- Senate Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights committee says 'infighting’ could jeopardise war on corruption
- Haji has dismissed his purported fallout with Kinoti as wishful thinking
Image: FILE
Tuesday's clash between DCI George Kinoti and DPP Noordin Haji over the aborted prosecution of Kenya Ports Authority boss Daniel Manduku has attracted the attention of Parliament.
The Senate Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights committee has summoned the two officials to explain the ‘infighting’ that threatens to jeopardise President Uhuru Kenyatta's war on corruption.
The duo has been the engine behind the fight against graft that has seen top government officials and state officers arrested and arraigned.
Committee chairman Samson Cherargei (Nandi) said they have invited Kinoti and Haji to appear before the panel next Thursday.
“When we saw the fight between DCI and DPP on the latest case of KPA MD Manduku, where he and others were accused of graft, we thought as committee, in our own motion, that we summon them to come and tell us what is happening,” Cherargei said.
“It is not good for the country for the two to be seen fighting. The KPA case was a classic example. We do not want either of the two to be rubber stamps but they should work together… we want to know why they are fighting,” he added.
Yesterday, Haji dismissed his purported fallout with Kinoti as wishful thinking. “There is no rift between me, DCI or the EACC. These is wishful thinking,” he said.
Drama that unfolded in court on Tuesday where Manduku and Kenya Ports Authority commissioner Kevin Safari walked scot-free after it emerged that there was no charge sheet registered in their names.
Manduku was arrested by the DCI on Monday and was to be charged with several counts related to fraud at the Kenya Ports Authority On Tuesday.
Manduku was to face charges related to the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi. Chief magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot set the Manduku and Safari free.
“If the DPP and the DCI are not ready we will not interfere but give them time to put their house in order,” Cheruiyot said.
He added, “When the court resumed, DCI detective in charge of the case Gituathi Njoroge insisted that he had the charge sheet and said he did not know why it had not been registered.”
Cherargei disclosed that Haji and DPP will appraise the committee on the status of the ongoing war on graft and drug trafficking especially in the Coastal region.
He expressed the committee’s concerns that the ‘infighting’ may derail the anti-graft fight and erode public confidence in them.
“The two people sit in the multi-agency team on fighting corruption. So if they fight, then we are concerned as a committee,” Cherargei told a press conference in Parliament Buildings on Thursday.
The committee will also invite the Judiciary at a later date to understand the progress and challenges they are facing in the prosecution of corruption cases.
“We will not discuss the cases that are in courts, but we will engage them to discuss how we can help them to ensure cases are concluded fast,” he said.