• Late last year, the former DPP Noordin Haji came under sharp criticism after several high-level graft cases involving key allies of President William Ruto were withdrawn.
• Ingonga, who has served as a prosecutor for many years, said sometimes the DPP will withdraw a case in court if the matter ends up with an acquittal.
Image: SHABAN OMAR
The war on graft will be fought on all fronts, new Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga declared Friday.
In his first public engagement since he was sworn into office on September 25, Ingonga said the war on graft is a collective responsibility of all the parties in the criminal justice system.
“Graft will be fought from all fronts. It is not one-way, but we have people who investigate; the police and EACC, and the DPP who prosecutes,” he said.
“If you see graft before the investigative agency sees it, or before the ODPP sees it, kindly bring it to our attention.”
Late last year, the former DPP Noordin Haji came under sharp criticism after several high-level graft cases involving key allies of President William Ruto were withdrawn.
Among the cases that were withdrawn are the corruption trial against Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa and the trial of former Kenya Power and Lighting Company officials including former managing directors Ben Chumo and Ken Tarus.
Another case was a Sh1.1 billion graft charge against former National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) boss Geoffrey Mwangi and tax evasion charges against businesswoman Mary Wambui.
Haji was later picked by President Ruto as the new Director General of the National Intelligence Service on May 16.
On Friday, Ingonga defended the decision by his predecessor Haji to withdraw the cases, saying cases cannot be withdrawn without concrete reasons.
“You must withdraw with the permission of the court. And you must give the court sufficient reasons for that matter to be withdrawn. And by the way, we have many cases where we have gone to the court to withdraw, and the courts have denied,” he said.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of a three-day annual journalists training organised by Missing Voices at Voyager Hotel Mombasa, Ingonga said it is not that easy to withdraw cases.
“If you find there is a case in court that has been withdrawn, the reasons are sufficient. And that's why the court will agree to it. And again, circumstances under which cases have been withdrawn are valid,” he said.
Ingonga, who has served as a prosecutor for many years, said sometimes the DPP will withdraw a case in court if the matter ends up with an acquittal.
He explained that at times when the DPP registers a case in court and believes he has sufficient evidence to prosecute and get a conviction, circumstances may change along the way.
“Maybe during the trial, you realise with this kind of evidence that is coming up from any of the witnesses or from the defence if I proceed with this case, it will be an acquittal,” he said.
“The moment you see this is an acquittal, you are not obliged to proceed with the case. Those are some of the things that we must understand. So, withdrawals are in most cases informed by the evidence of records,” he said.
He said an acquittal means that the accused person may go and sue the government for malicious prosecution.
“That person who is acquitted will go for malicious prosecution. And the state will pay. The state does not have money. The money that is paid is yours as taxpayer, therefore, I will withdraw a case in a way that saves the state and taxpayers’ money,” Ingonga said.
He said the supremacy battle that was witnessed between the former DPP Haji and the former Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti will not play out between him and DCI Amin Mohammed.
According to Ingonga, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was created independently by the Constitution of Kenya 2010, with the sole mandate of prosecuting all cases in Kenyan courts.
“Yes, there was some fight sometime last year or the other year between ODPP and DCI. I believe, as we're talking now, that fight is not over. We are working cohesively,” he said.
Ingonga said working in collaboration with all the actors in the justice system, they will never have such fights as witnessed before.
“When we have such engagements, we will not have those fights. Because through engagements and trainings, we understand the message of each agency,” he said.