Are Crimebusters DCI, DPP Up to Anti-Graft Task?

Kenyans are a conflicted lot as questions as to whether the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji are up to the task in the fight against graft remain unanswered.

The two officials have been showing their efforts in fighting the graft menace, but no serious arrests have ever been made and suspects brought to book.

Members of the public always have their hopes high as the arrests are carried out but, in the end, suspects walk scot-free without serious repercussions.

Some lawyers now feel that most of the cases are rushed to court before investigations are concluded, resulting in some of them being thrown out or dragging on as police struggle to look for evidence to nail the suspects.

Siaya Senator James Orengo, Senior Counsel, said the DCI and DPP have been blowing hot air by arresting and charging suspects before completing investigations and crafting watertight cases.

Orengo stated that there is too much ado about nothing and that it is an abuse of the court process to arrest anybody before carrying out investigations and then expect the court to detain the person until the probe is complete.

The DCI and the DPP are said to have been filing several miscellaneous applications seeking to hold on to suspects in order to complete investigations.

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Lawyer Danstan Omari said the DCI and DPP are treading on dangerous grounds and should the Judiciary continue throwing out cases, public trust in the two would wane.

“Someone might petition Parliament for the removal of the DCI,” he said.

As opined by Isaac Okero, the former Law Society of Kenya chairperson, the two officials have just been abusing the court system by filing their applications, stating that when it comes to the norm, the arrests usually come at the culmination of investigations.

The EACC boss can be exempted in this context since he is still new in his office, but he should not follow the footsteps of the DCI and the DPP.

A section of politicians allied to Deputy President Dr William Ruto has been pointing accusation fingers at the DCI’s office claiming that the DCI has been waging political war against Ruto in the guise of fighting corruption.

The DCI and DPP’s performance have further been questioned after several cases brought against high-profile individuals have been thrown into the whirlwind.

The most recent cases where suspects have walked scot-free include the 70 million shilling scandal where parliament staff members were involved; the NYS scandal that mysteriously took a different direction when 8 billion shillings was alleged to have been stolen but when taken to court, the money became 468 million shillings; the Matungu killings suspects who walked away free due to lack  of concrete evidence pinning them to  the crimes; and the Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu’s prosecution.

Meanwhile, the pending cases that are yet to be resolved include the Solai Dam scandal where 21 billion shillings allocated for the construction of the dam cannot be accounted for; and the Fake Gold Scandal that involved high profile individuals comprising mostly politicians and a Dubai Royal family.

The main question here then becomes: Are the officials mentioned, the DPP and the DCI, up to the task in leading the fight against graft, or are they just pulling public relations stunts to pull the country’s perception in their favour?

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