Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has defended the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) over its decision to withdraw some cases.
Speaking during the launch of ODPP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, the Second in Command argued that no agency or authority should interfere with their decisions whether operational, administrative or operational autonomy.
Kindiki who was the chief guest at the event maintained no individual should interfere with ODPP‘s chain of command since the office was created to execute its mandate without any form of interference.
The DP listed decisional, administrative, budgetary and operational functions which he insisted should be interfered with.
“Independent institutions and offices are independent in four aspects: decisional independence- the independence to make decisions without any interference from any quotas. The decision you make on who to prosecute, which prosecution to terminate, those ones nobody should interfere with that decisional independence.
“Secondly, administrative independence whereby ODPP as an independent institution must run its programme and projects administratively under the chain of command that is established,” Kindiki stated.
“Thirdly, financial and budgetary independence. The moment you receive your resources, and how you spend them nobody should interfere. Finally, operational autonomy, that your operations must be independent of interference from any other quota. Beyond that rest of the grounds call for interdependence cooperation,” he added.
Ruto blasts ODPP
Kindiki’s statement comes after President William Ruto blasted ODPP over the withdrawal of some high-profile graft cases. In his State of the Nation Address, Ruto lamented that the decision to withdraw some cases had undermined the fight against graft.
He argued that institutions tasked with combating graft should not hide behind their independence and start meeting public expectations in the war against corruption.
“I must caution that all these measures will only achieve intended results if, and only if, the institutions charged with combating corruption and promoting efficiency and integrity stop hiding behind the transparent screen of independence and rise up to meet the people’s expectations on matters integrity,” Ruto said during the State of the Nation Address.
“It cannot be the case that the director of public prosecutions keeps dropping cases because, somehow, they are unable to produce witnesses.”
Besides Ruto, there are other agencies including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) who have recently called out ODPP over the withdrawal of some high-profile cases.
Despite the pressure, ODPP has maintained its autonomy and chain of command.
