Piece by: Luke Awich

31 May 2023

• He told MPs that some of the cases were a forgery by the investigative officers.

• The nominee promised to ensure timely and actionable intelligence.

National Intelligence Service Director General nominee Noordin Haji on Tuesday defended his decisions to drop select corruption cases.

He dismissed suggestions he was pressured by the Executive to discontinue prosecution of the cases.

The Director of Public Prosecutions told MPs he acted within the law and challenged anyone to take the cases for a judicial review.

Speaking when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Belgut MP Nelson Koech, Haji said he will not apologise for the actions he took.

“I stand with the withdrawals that I made and I have no apology to make,” Haji told the vetting panel.

“The issue of withdrawal is a constitutional power that I was given. Nobody under the Constitution can come and question those powers. If anybody wants to question how that decision was made, there is the court of law.”

He admitted that he was at times under pressure (over the high-profile cases) but did not budge.

“I was coerced but I did not succumb,” he said.

In most of the cases, Haji said, he was not unilaterally making the withdrawal decision as it involved his team and even the magistrates or judges handling the cases who had the final say.

Haji said he was in most of the cases duped into believing the evidences presented by the investigative institutions was watertight.

In some cases, the nominee told MPs that some investigators swore an affidavit denouncing the evidences that were being relied upon by his office.

He denied that his decision to drop cases was influenced by higher powers, saying anyone with evidence that he was compromised should challenge the decisions in the courts.

“A lot of these cases that have been cited and which we ended up withdrawing were made independently by myself and the teams that we work with. Those cases were necessitated to be withdrawn because we had issues with how the evidence was passed on to the ODPP,” he said.

“In some of the cases, the investigating officers themselves submitted affidavits to say that they produced evidence that was not complete; some were tampered with or forged.”

The DPP told the Koech-led committee that he has written to the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome to initiate investigations on the misleading evidence presented by the DCI.

“I have written to the IG for investigations to be instituted because some of the documents examined were done fraudulently.”

He was responding to question by Saboti MP Caleb Amisi who sought to know why most of the high-profile cases were withdrawn under his watch.

“Why then did you agree to charge with insufficient evidence because the power to charge is yours? How do Kenyans trust that you will not drop high-profile intelligence as you dropped the cases?” Amisi posed.

The DPP was also confronted with a 2021-22 audit report that questioned, among other things, Sh231.5 million his office used on renting office spaces in various parts of the country and which the report said there was no value for money.

According to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, ODPP leased space at a commercial building in Mombasa along Moi Avenue, Tewa Road, at Sh65.15 million for five years with a capacity of 32 staff from April 1, 2020.

Verification exercise undertaken by the auditors revealed that three-quarters of the rented office space was not occupied.

In his response, the nominee told MPs that the underutilisation of the rented spaces was because of Covid-19 that forced a sizeable number of staff to work from home.

Haji also promised to turn around how intelligence is being collected in the country.

“My vision for NIS is to advance its capabilities and the capabilities of the organisation to provide timely, relevant and actionable intelligence by building a skilled and capable workforce that is adaptable, resilient, innovative and able to address the ever-evolving threats that we face,” Haji told the committee.

“As the DPP, I became a consumer of intelligence products and benefited from insights provided by NIS.”

The NIS nominee also declined to reveal his net worth, citing the sensitivity of the office he was being vetted for.

“Considering the sensitivity of the office I am going to hold, it might be a national security issue at some point,” Haji said.

“Are you being rewarded with this position?” Kitui Woman Representative Irene Kasalu asked.

In his response, Haji said his qualification and background made him fit for the demanding job.

“I think a lot of thought was put into this and the President must have seen the value I will add as the Director General of the National Intelligence Service,” Haji said.

He also highlighted his achievement as the country’s prosecutor.

“It was during my tenure that the highest-ever fines case was achieved. It was during my tenure that we managed to bring to the fore how best we can deal with corruption. It was during my tenure that we were able to get rulings from court that governors will have to step aside and not serve once they are charged,” he said.