DPP urges LSK to support aggressive high-profile graft prosecution
By Faith Lagat, August 15, 2025Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga has called for deeper collaboration between the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to intensify the fight against corruption.
Speaking at the LSK Annual Conference on Friday, August 15, 2025, Ingonga said an aggressive approach to prosecuting high-profile graft cases was critical to restoring public trust in governance.
He described the conference’s theme, “Protecting Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law—Ensuring Accountability,” as timely amid rising demands for transparency.
Securing high-profile convictions
Ingonga underscored the ODPP’s mandate in safeguarding public resources, citing Article 201 of the Constitution. He pointed to recent convictions of former governors Daniel Waithaka Mwangi (Nyandarua), Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu), and Moses Lenolkulal (Samburu) as evidence of progress in tackling economic crimes.
“These convictions demonstrate our commitment to accountability,” he said, commending the Judiciary, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for their cooperation.
He urged members of the legal profession to join forces with the ODPP in ensuring public servants are held to the oaths they swore. “As lawyers, you play an essential role in ensuring that public servants are held accountable to the oath of office they swore to protect,” he stated.
Addressing systemic challenges
The DPP’s appeal comes against the backdrop of Kenya’s 2024 placement on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “Grey List” for weaknesses in anti-money laundering controls. Ingonga said these vulnerabilities were linked to entrenched corruption that continues to erode public confidence in state institutions.
“A lot still needs to be done through our collaborative efforts—not as allies, but as professionals who share the same duty: justice,” he noted.
He stressed that dismantling systemic graft would require a united front across the justice sector, with the LSK playing a central role in pushing for reforms and ethical practice.
Plea Bargaining to Ease Case Backlogs
In his address, Ingonga also championed plea bargaining as a strategic tool to enhance efficiency in the justice system. He argued that the mechanism could help reduce case backlogs and decongest prisons without compromising the fight against corruption.
“Plea bargaining is not a surrender—it is survival,” he said, referencing a 2017 study published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, which found a 30 percent reduction in case backlogs in jurisdictions that adopted similar approaches.
Ingonga’s pledge for stronger collaboration with the legal fraternity signals renewed efforts to strengthen constitutionalism and the rule of law in Kenya, though the battle against corruption remains far from over.