NAIROBI, Kenya, May 29 – The Pastrolist Parliamentary Group has slammed what it has termed as a ‘malign campaign’ against the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji by the civil society since his appointment as the next Director General of the National Intelligence Service.
Saku Member of Parliament Dido Rasso who is the patron claimed that the aim of the smear campaign was to solicit for more funds from the international community.
“We therefore caution anyone with ill intentions of maligning Mr. Noordin’s character ahead of his vetting and approval by Parliament, that they are too late. Any issue they are raising now should have come when he was still the DPP,” Rasso stated.
The lawmakers took issue with the move by Transparency International to retract a 2019 Leadership Integrity Award accorded to Haji on account of alleged complaints following the withdrawal of a number of corruption cases from courts during his tenure as DPP.
The cases that were withdrawn, touched on powerful individuals who are currently in President William Ruto’s administration.
The Pastoralist group however argued it was within his discretion and within the law to withdraw the cases and the matter should not be politicized.
“It is legally at his discretion as DPP to recall files and withdraw cases, where he is convinced that the evidence is insufficient and may lead to futile protracted court cases that don’t guarantee convictions at the close of the trial,” Rasso stated.
Eldas MP Adan Keynan questioned why the civil groups moved to malign his character days after he was appointed instead of raising the concerns when he was still in office.
“If they were issues of integrity why were they not raised before his nomination.That tells you the politics and for the sake of this country if we politicize everything that we do,then we will lose this country,” said Keynan.
The Former Director of Public Prosecution is set to face the National Assembly Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations for vetting tomorrow and subsequently be approved by the house before taking up the post.
The legislators exuded confidence that despite the backlash on Haji’s appointment he is best suited for the post having served in the intelligence agency as Deputy Director Counter-organized crime unit.
“Noordin is a praticising intelligence officer and he has served in the criminal justice unit.What other qualification do you need. We don’t need to politicize everything that public servants do because their work is not political,” Keynan stated.
“I want to tell the Transparency International and the other organizations that they don’t need to use Noordin’s name to solicit for funding and entice your would be sponsor,” he added.
The lawmakers who hail from Haji’s political backyard insisted that the issue should not be politicized at the expense of Kenyans whose long-term safety and security are better guaranteed with Haji at the helm of the Intelligence service.
Keynan explained that the move by two regimes to seek the services of Haji in public service rightly portrays his stellar performance.
“Noordin has served Uhuru Kenyatta and now President William Ruto. This shows you the nobility and civility of Ruto’s administration. We need to have a public service that is completely a political and serves for the intrest of Kenyans,” he said.
Haji was stripped of the 2019 Leadership Integrity Award by Transparency International (Executive Director Sheila Masinde.
Masinde said the move follows subsequent assessment based on concerns over Haji’s withdrawal of high-profile cases in the past several months.
Haji says he does not regret withdrawing high-profile criminal cases due to lack of evidence.
He blamed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for failing to provide him with enough satisfying evidence that he needed to support his decision to prosecute.
“The facts that were represented to us that time made us to believe that once the investigations were complete, we will still be able to convict that individual,” he stated.
“However, that never took place and the DCI then did not avail the evidence that was required and a number of affidavits were brought by officers from the DCI clearly outlining that they were pushed to do what they were doing.”
“I stand by my decision and there is a very transparent decision that takes place here and I have no apologies to make.”
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