President Kenyatta to receive list of DPP nominees
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Dorcas Oduor, former IEBC commissioner Thomas Letangule and Supreme Court Deputy Registrar Daniel ole Keiwua, who are among the 10 candidates shortlisted to fill the position of DPP. Interviews began on March 8, 2018 and will end on March 9, 2018. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Ten candidates out of 27 applicants were shortlisted for interviews for the DPP position.
- Six candidates were interviewed Thursday.
- Three more will be interviewed on Friday morning and the last one on Friday afternoon.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is today expected to receive three names of nominees for the position of the Director of Public Prosecution from a team he constituted to replace Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko.
The interview enters its second day Friday at the Public Service Commission (PSC) offices.
Deputy DPP Nicholas Mutuku is currently being interviewed followed by lawyer Patrick Magero Gumo, then DPP Mr Jacob Nyakundi Ondari and finally Machakos chief magistrate Abdulkadir Ramadhan.
DEADLINE
The selection panel will embark on grading the performances of the ten interviewed candidates.
The panel chairperson Dr Elizabeth Muli has indicated that they are operating under strict timeline.
“We are indeed conducting this exercise under strict timeline and we hope to conclude everything timely,” she told reporters.
The President will then choose one person and forward the name to the National Assembly for vetting.
After the vetting, should they approve the nominee, the President will make the appointment of the new DPP to succeed environment cabinet secretary Keriako Tobiko .
Should the National Assembly reject the President nominees for the DPP position, the panel will start fresh recruitment process starting with the advertisement, shortlisting and interviews.
The seven-member panel consists of Kennedy Kihara (Office of the President), Maryann Njau (Attorney-General’s office) and Ms Lilian Omollo (Public Service ministry).
The others are Ms Kagwiria Mbogori (Kenya National Commission on Human Rights), Dr Muli (Law Society of Kenya), Francis Atwoli (Central Organisation of Trade Unions) and Halakhe Waqo (Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission).
Thursday, the panel interviewed Supreme Court Deputy Registrar Daniel ole Keiwua and former commissioner of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Thomas Letangule in the morning.
Others interviewees include Senior Assistant DPP James Mungai Warui, National Intelligence Service Deputy Director Noordin Haji, Senior Counsel Lucy Kambuni and deputy DPP Ms Dorcas Oduor.
Mr Warui was put to task over termination of the Sh 1.5 million burglary and theft case involving Managing Director Libya Oil Kenya Ltd (Oilibya) Mr Duncan Ziyanai Murashiki.
Mr Warui defended himself for terminating the case when the DPP office is vacant saying the former DPP had mandated them to discharge such role.
He said the dispute was civil and blamed police of charging the suspect with criminal offence over contractual dispute after Oil Libya had terminated its contract with Maced Limited to run pump station along Jogoo road.
GRAFT
He said Maced Limited complaint to police accusing the OilLibya manager of breaking into its earlier offices and moved out some items writing to the former to collect them.
“I wrote four page letter detailing why the case is civil. In fact Maced Limited has filed a civil case that is pending before court,” he added.
On his Part, Mr Noordin said, if appointed, he will “retool” the structure and operation of the DPP office to effectively and efficiently discharge its functions.
He told the panel that the DPP office is faced with serious integrity issues which he said he will set up an internal complaint section with mandate to develop code of conduct with penalties to deal with corrupt prosecutors.
The NIS director of organised crime, who formerly worked at the Attorney-General office for ten years, told the panel he will also enhance the capacity of ODPP advisory board to discharge its functions seriously.
“The board is properly constituted but not effectively discharging its mandate. I will operationalize section 52 of the ODPP act,” said Mr Noordin who hold two masters degrees in law and national security policing.
He said he will also constitute a team of distinguish inspectors drawn from within and outside the country to bolster the DPP operation operations.
Mr Noordin told the panel his wealth of experience at NIS and his past stint at Attorney General Office makes him an outstanding candidate for the DPP position.
SKILLS
“My experience at NIS has given me different lenses to see with a bird eye the country’s criminal justice system operations. I have gained skills of investigation and analysis which will help ODPP develop water tight evidences in criminal cases,” he added.
All candidates expressed their desire to make the ODPP functions effectively, uphold the rule of law, integrity and national values, respect human right, close coordination and collaboration with various state agencies and other stakeholders.
They were also questioned on their competence and qualification to serve in the office.
The office holder, who earns a monthly salary of Sh765, 188 plus other benefits, will serve for an eight-year non-renewable period.
