The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has raised concern that a Sh7 billion budget deficit could cripple its operations at a critical time when it is handling a workload of cases of public interest.

The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Renson Ingonga revealed that the agency is currently pursuing murder cases resulting from femicide and gross violation of human rights by law enforcement authorities arising from the deadly Gen Z protests in June.

“…the office has projected a resource requirement of approximately Sh26.831 billion against a projected budgetary allocation of Sh19.591 billion, this translates to a resource gap of approximately Sh7.24 billion,” Ingonga said.

The DPP was speaking during the launch of the ODPP’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan. Among the areas of focus during this period, the DPP said, will be to increase human capacity through training of more prosecutors and to dispense with pending corruption and economic crimes cases.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, who officiated the launch of the Strategic Plan, called on all arms of government to shun ‘sibling rivalry’ and work in harmony to achieve the common objective of serving Kenyans.

The DP came to the defence of his boss, saying as the head of the executive arm, the president has no intention to interfere with the independence of government agencies.

“President Ruto established under Executive Order No.2 of 2023, a liaison function under the office of the Deputy President mandated not to interfere with independent offices and institutions but to liaise with constitutional commissions, independent offices and institutions in matters that require the intervention of the national government including their budgets resources, policy formulation, implementation of the recommendations that come from independent offices,” Kindiki explained.

Prosecutorial independence

This arrangement, the DP said, has provided an avenue for addressing various concerns raised by independent offices and institutions in a manner that minimises antagonism.

“Unless we build a collaborative, cooperative and friendly relationship with other arms of government our independence will enter into headwinds. No single institution can deliver without the support of each other,” he added.

Kindiki assured that the government will not strip off financial, administrative, decisional and budgetary autonomy from any independent office or constitutional body. He emphasised on the need to have the independence to make decisions without interference from any authority or quarters.

“The decisions you make on who to prosecute and which prosecution to terminate, those nobody and no institution should interfere with that decisional independence,” he insisted.

Dignified yesteryears

The DP called on the prosecutors to uphold the rights of the accused by ensuring that the criminal justice system operates expeditiously without discrimination and to observe equality before the law. He called on them to act to a higher standard than litigants in a civil matter, reminding the state officers that a prosecutor acts on behalf of society as a whole because the consequences of a criminal conviction are grave.

He urged the prosecutors to be at the forefront of fighting corruption and theft of public resources by adhering to ethical conduct and integrity.

“Corruption is often facilitated through acts of omission and commission by professionals in the public sector, lawyers, accountants, auditors, economists, engineers and others yet professionals are the best place to enhance the development of ethics, integrity and standards,” Kindiki noted.

The DP, who is a lawyer by profession, went on to observe that the legal profession itself is on trial and the leadership of all professional legal institutions especially those in the public sector including the judiciary, the Attorney General’s office and the ODPP must make deliberate efforts to restore the dignified path of yesteryears.