The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Noordin Haji, says he will not be bullied to prosecute politicians implicated in graft cases.
Haji, while defending his decision to defer charges against politicians until after the August 9 polls, noted that the graft cases were not a priority for him and his office at the moment.
"This is within my purview and my discretion on how I manage the office and how I manage cases between now and August, graft cases will not be a priority for the ODPP," Haji stated.
In response to a petition filed at the High Court challenging his modus operandi, the DPP made it clear that he was not willing to cede ground as the decision was a practice that had worked well in other jurisdictions.
"In any case, it is also best practice. Internationally, that is how they have been done especially in common law jurisdictions, including the United States of America - six months down to General Election, they slow down on corruption cases," he noted.
The DPP mentioned that he was only working within the law which he opines had several loopholes when it comes to prosecuting fraud cases. He passed the button to Kenyans, challenging them to elect leaders of sound mind as their representatives.
Haji's comments were reiterated by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Chief Executive Officer, Twalib Mbarak, who underscored that criminal cases have no expiry date, adding that his agency will work with IEBC in clearing aspirants for various elective seats.
"Let us wait, we have four months before the elections and crime does not expire. Let it be in black and white, we do not clear candidates. What we do is report and submit profiles of candidates on issues dealing with integrity and pass it to the IEBC," Mbarak stated.
"Chapter Six of the Constitution is very amorphous and does not corner anybody. The only time somebody can be barred from public position is when all legal mechanisms [used to fight cases brought against them], have been cleared."
On March 28, Interior Principal Secretary, Karanja Kibicho, confirmed that officers from his Ministry would not arrest politicians who break the law, claiming that it was a trick used to gain political mileage and sympathy votes.
However, Kibicho assured that the law enforcement agencies would remain vigilant collecting evidence that will be used in filing cases against them in September.
"There are some politicians who are daring, so much that they would actually try to poke the government in the eye so that they are arrested to boost their popularity. We will not arrest you to give you sympathy votes. Keep breaking the law, we will catch up with you in September. The government never forgets," he remarked.
