War on graft to be boosted after criminal justice system is linked, says DPP

The fight against corruption will be further boosted after the whole criminal justice system is linked.

The intention, says Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji, is to strengthen the existing infrastructure such that the investigation, prosecution and the correctional service will work as a team.

Haji was addressing the second day of Leadership Workshop and Strategic Planning conference at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha.

He said a Prosecution Training Institute had been established to train and equip staff at the directorate with requisite skills to address complex crimes.

“We have also established an inspectorate unit to ensure quality assurance, best practices and to monitor and evaluate the quality of prosecution services offered,” the DPP said.

Another new team is Internal Compliance Unit which will subject the directorate staff to highest integrity standards.

“We have also developed a policy and prosecution mechanism that includes the decision to charge, plea bargain,  traffic rules and guidelines,” he said.

Haji has since his appointment on March 13, last year, made significant changes.

“We are working closely with the office of the AG, EACC, DCI, KRA and Financial reporting centre to ensure that we recover public property and funds that have been corruptly acquired as well as increased conviction rate,” he said.

He at the same time noted that the directorate had several challenges, key among them inadequate sensitisation of the public on corruption laws as well as legislative gaps hindering the war on graft.

“We also face a digitisation challenge as most of our offices face inadequate utilisation of modern technology as many (staff) are still using manual systems,” he said.

The DPP said more personnel were being recruited for the effective prosecution of the increasing number of corruption cases.

“We are working with the Salary and Remuneration Commission so that the salaries of the ODPP can be the same level with that of the Judiciary,” he said.