•Ingonga has a 18 years of legal practice experience and has spent 10 of those at the ODPP
•The man is expected to repair relationships with other institutions in the criminal justice system that got tarred during their reign of his predecessor
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Big names fell by the wayside in the race to find a replacement for Noordin Haji as the new Director of Public Prosecutions after President William Ruto went for little-known prosecutor Renson Mulele Ingonga.
Born in Kakamega county, Ingonga was among the insiders from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions who were interviewed for the job. The interviews were conducted on August 1 and 2.
Until his appointment, the prosecutor has been heading the regional office in Garissa and is at the rank of assistant DPP.
He joined the ODPP 10 years ago. Before then, Ingonga was working as a land registrar in Kilifi. As a prosecutor, he worked in Nairobi before he was moved to the Northeastern region.
The last to be interviewed, his colleagues describe him as media-shy and a quiet legal mind that prefers dipping his head in the work and speaking less, with eye trained on the outcome.
Sources close to Haji, who has since been appointed as the director general of the National Intelligence Service, indicate that his wish was to be succeeded by an insider.
Fifteen people were interviewed for the DPP position.
They included veteran lawyer and former Mombasa politician Taib Ali Taib, current Machakos chief magistrate Francis Andayi, acting DPP Jacinta Nyamosi, former DDP Haji’s chief of staff Lilian Obuo, top ODPP mandarins Tabitha Ouya, Jacob Nyakundi and former IEBC commissioner Thomas Letangule.
Nyakundi and Letangule had applied for the post in 2015 when then DPP Keriako Tobiko quit and even made it to the final list of three recommended for nomination by President Uhuru Kenyatta but neither was picked.
Also interviewed were lawyer Danstan Omari, Victor Mule, Winston Aswani, David Mogunde, James Wahome and Peter Mungáthia.
The seven-member interviewing panel was led by Solicitor General Shadrack Mose and had Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli, EACC CEO Twalib Mbarak, Public Service PS Mary Kimonye, Richard Onsongo, Bush Obwocha, and chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Roseline Odede.
Ingonga’s name has been forwarded to Parliament for vetting and consideration by the National Assembly.
If approved, Ingonga will be tasked with sprucing up the image of the ODPP that had taken a beating following mass withdrawal of high-profile cases by his predecessor.
He is also expected to repair relationships with various institutions in the criminal justice sector that got severed or impaired during the reign of Haji.
Haji had a public spat with then DCI George Kinoti over handling of crucial evidence and on who should present cases in court in pressing charges.
The office under Haji was also accused of slow-walking prosecution of cases of police brutality.
The youngest in terms of practice experience among the contending lot was vocal lawyer Danstan Omari who got called to the roll in 2011. The oldest was Taib who started practicing in 1988.
Speaking after he did the interviews, Taib had said participating in the process was an honour to him, hailing the transparency that had been fostered in the hiring.
"As a person, I'm simply happy to have had an opportunity to present myself for the interviews," he said.
"Let us now leave it to the panel to make their decisions based on their knowledge, experience, and wisdom."
"This is an opportunity which would not have been available in the last 15 years and I think we are moving in right direction as a country because for an ordinary person to appear for consideration for the job is a great step."
Ouya had said if appointed, she would partner with the media to ensure proper delivery of services in the office.
"I'm going to ensure that there an open platform for free engagement with the media so that there is no mischief regarding our information," she noted.