Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has appointed Queen’s Counsel Khawar Qureshi to lead the prosecution of high-profile corruption cases. Described as one who delivers at difficult cases, Qureshi has been headhunted to help the office of the DPP in executing graft cases.
Qureshi is described by chambers and partners as a very powerful advocate who works incredibly hard and gets on top of both legal issues and facts. He becomes the first Queen’s Counsel to be engaged by the office of the DPP.
The DPP has previously hired private lawyers locally to prosecute some of public interest cases. The hiring of Qureshi is a move seen to depart from the past as Haji looks to cast his net abroad.
Qureshi has experience of representing foreign governments and has on many occasions represented the UK government in cases in London.
He was appointed a visiting professor in commercial law at the University of London in 2006 and a Deputy High Court Judge in 2013.
His appointment comes after unhappy judges, magistrates and court staff plotted a fight back following the arrest of Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu.
In July, Haji said corrupt judges are hampering the anti-graft drive, a move he said was undermining President Uhuru Kenyatta’s efforts to restore public trust in government. Corruption drains billions of dollars from the state in rackets involving government officials and business people - known as “tenderpreneurs” for their success in winning public contracts.
Uhuru promised to stop the rot when he came to power in 2013 but critics say he has been slow to go after top officials and that there have been no high-profile convictions.
The government said corruption has grown by 240 per cent over the past five years. On June 8, Public Service boss Joseph Kinyua said corruption cases cost billions of shillings as a result of flawed procurement processes.
In October, Haji invited applications for pre-qualification to provide legal services. The advert was targeting high profile lawyers and at least attracted applications from 100 law firms.
A number of high profile corruption related cases are pending in court including that against Mwilu and National Land Commission chairman Muhammad Swazuri.