The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji, on Saturday, November 5, explained that his decision to charge officers accused of extra-judicial killing was not a vendetta against the police service.
Instead, the DPP who was speaking during a book launch in Mombasa, revealed that the move was purely driven by the need to weed out rogue officers from the service.
He noted that the National Police Service (NPS) had been infiltrated by bad apples who made up of approximately less than one percent.
“Those who are engaging in those activities are probably just one percent and it should not be reflective of the police. What we should recognise is that the police are doing a great job…the police should not take it as if we are targeting or trying to penalise them,” stated the DPP.
Haji also expressed optimism in improving the working relationship between the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
“Moving forward, what we hope to see under this new dispensation and the next five years is that we will be able to cement a working relationship that works towards ensuring that their is good faith and collegiality between the different institutions that are charged with ensuring that the rule of law and access to justice is dispensed to each and every Kenyan and that we may be people of integrity and that we should be honest and true to the constitution and the law,” he added.
Since the change of regime in mid-September, approximately nine officers attached to the DCI are facing charges relating to extra-judicial killings.
On October 22, four officers including the Head of the defunct Special Service Unit (SSU) were nabbed shortly after the unit was dismantled.
Approximately five days later, five more officers attached to the disbanded Special Service Unit (SSU) were arrested over the disappearance of two Indians who were in Kenya.
The Indian nationals, Media mogul Zulfiqar Khan, Mohamed Zaid and taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania have been missing since July 2022.
The two Indians were to be part of President William Ruto's campaign team prior to their disappearance.
In an earlier interview with KTN News, Haji had expressed his frustration in working with the DCI administration under its former boss George Kinoti. He accused them of manipulating some of their evidence which put the ODPP's court cases in jeopardy.
