Martha Karua has criticized the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji, following his recent remarks on his working relationship with former Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti.
DPP Haji, on Sunday, October 30 stated that the fight against corruption was characterized by mistrust over the way the DCI packaged their evidence, leading to the withdrawal of major graft cases.
“Over time, we discovered that the DCI was not serious in availing concrete evidence for cases. That is why we had a push-and-pull between the two offices. We could not proceed with the cases that didn’t meet our threshold. They lacked sufficient evidence to be presented in court,” Haji said.
Nonetheless, Martha Karua called out the chief prosecutor, saying his remarks are a self-revelation of moral unfitness to hold the DPP’s office.
“Any public officer especially a senior who says I was forced to do or say reveals themselves to be morally unfit to hold office and should resign or be fired,” Karua said via a tweet on Tuesday, November 1.
The reason we have public trials is to allow the court of public opinion to judge for themselves if the process is fair and if the evidence warrants whatever action the court takes .
— Martha Karua SC (@MarthaKarua) November 1, 2022
“Swearing a false affidavit is a crime and DPP Haji ought to be taking steps against any DCI officer and any witness who confessed to have perjured themselves, otherwise we are being treated to a charade orchestrated to sanitize the politically correct,” Karua added.
According to the NARC Kenya Party leader, the Office of the DPP should give room to the courts to determine the cases.
Also Read: DPP Haji Explains Why They Withdrew Aisha Jumwa’s Corruption Case
“The reason we have public trials is to allow the court of public opinion to judge for themselves if the process is fair and if the evidence warrants whatever action the court takes. Why can’t DPP Haji let the courts of law and the court of public opinion decide upon tendering the evidence publicly in all these high-profile matters?” she posed.
Moreover, DPP Haji last month withdrew cases involving prominent Kenyans, some of whom were allies of President William Ruto. This move caused mixed reactions from the public.
One of the cases includes the Ksh.19 million graft case facing Gender CS Aisha Jumwa, where the DPP cited lack of evidence which he said had been obstructed by DCI.
“We asked for evidence, and it was never availed, and we had written more than five reminders to the DCI, and it was never forthcoming,” Haji stated.
