Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji who is set to take over as the country’s spy chief is worth Sh466 million.
The Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations committee disclosed this in a report after vetting Haji for National Intelligence Service director general job.
The report shows the outgoing DPP submitted that he earns Sh9 million annually from his state duties.
Details further show that Haji, who is son of the first Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji [deceased], also earns Sh12 million from family businesses.
“The nominee submitted that he expects to share an inheritance with his siblings that will form part of his future benefits,” the report by the Belgut MP Nelson Koech-led committee reads.
Haji declined to reveal his net worth when he appeared before the House team on May 30, for the vetting to assume the NIS director general job.
The DPP said such disclosure in the glare of the media would be a security issue considering that the office he’d hold would be sensitive.
“Considering the sensitivity of the office I am going to hold, I request that I give it to the committee. It may be a national security issue at some point,” Haji said.
The Defence committee granted the nominee’s request to be heard in camera on the question of his net worth.
Ideally, all state officers and public officers are required to make their wealth details public in the spirit of accountability as spelled by integrity laws.
Haji sought to share the documents away from the glare of the media saying it was ‘potentially compromising’.
But the committee has made the details public in the report due for debate by a plenary sitting this afternoon.
The committee has further dismissed memoranda against the DPP including from Transparency International and rights groups which opposed the nomination.
“This process [or removal as spelled in Article 158 of the constitution] that is enshrined in the constitution has not been exhausted,” the committee said.
TI – Kenya, through executive director Sheilla Masinde, petitioned the committee to reject Haji’s appointment for withdrawing corruption cases, failing to file cases after obtaining concrete evidence, and for pulling out cases without giving sufficient reasons to the public.
MPs said Haji filed a response to the submissions by way of a replying affidavit.
“The nominee stated that the prosecution made an application for withdrawal before the court on the cases, which granted the application for withdrawal,” the committee said.
“The nominee further stated that he was not under any external pressure in making the application but did so in compliance with the constitution and the ODPP Act,” the House team said.
Haji, the report reveals, also informed MPs that he was no longer utilising the TI award—which the lobby group withdrew—and will promptly return the same to the board of Transparency International.
“The nominee further informed the committee that most of the cases filed at the Public Service Commission had been withdrawn, and if there were any pending, due process would be followed,” MPs said.
In his submission, the NIS DG nominee told MPs that in withdrawal of cases, the DPP doesn’t act alone.
“The courts and magistrate play a role by reviewing the submitted evidence and the reasons for withdrawal that the DPP has tabled before court,” Noordin said.
MPs have thus concluded that the incoming NIS boss met the requirements of the law and also complied with the requisite clearance by statutory bodies.
“During the approval hearing, the nominee demonstrated knowledge of topical, administrative, and technical issues touching on government and had the requisite abilities, qualifications, and experience to serve as director general of the National Intelligence Service,” the committee said.
Haji holds an LLM and LLB from the University of Wales and Cardiff and MNSPO (Master's degree in National Security Policy) with merit from Australian National University.
He also holds a post-graduate diploma from the Kenya School of law.
His first job in the Public Service was as a State Counsel at the Attorney General Office in 2000.
His career has been shaped up in the Attorney General’s office, where he worked for many years as a deputy director of the National Intelligence Service.
-Edited by SKanyara