MPs want DPP to grant EACC powers to prosecute cases

While tabling the report before the National Assembly, Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) Vice Chairperson Mwengi Mutuse proposed that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should gazette EACC lawyers as special prosecutors when dealing with corruption cases.  

According to the law, the DPP has the power to delegate prosecutorial powers to other persons.

"Prosecutorial powers emanate from Article 157 of the Constitution and this question was put to the nominee and I want to refer you to paragraph 60 of our report. We recommend that the DPP gazette EACC lawyers as prosecutors," Mutuse said. 

JLAC adopted the proposal from the new EACC boss Abdi Mohamud who, during his vetting session, argued that EACC lawyers are better equipped to prosecute the case as opposed to the DPP. 

"One thing we could try in my view is that the DPP has the power to appoint other people who are qualified lawyers to prosecute cases. When you take a file that has 20 pieces of documentary evidence to a prosecutor, he may not have the time to peruse all the documents in that file," Mohamud stated. 

"If it's a lawyer who was engaged in the collection of evidence, analysis, that person understands that file like the back of his hand," he added. 

The DPP has received backlash for the repeated dropping of high-profile corruption cases due to the alleged inability to produce witnesses. 

This was highlighted in President William Ruto's State of the Nation address last month when he pointed out that such incidents undermine the fight against corruption. 

 “I must caution that all these measures will only achieve intended results if, and only if, the institutions charged with combating corruption and promoting efficiency and integrity stop hiding behind the transparent screen of independence and rise up to meet the people's expectations on matters integrity,” Ruto remarked. 

“It cannot be the case that the director of public prosecutions keeps dropping cases because, somehow, they are unable to produce witnesses.”