DPP Tobiko to appoint prosecutors for post poll cases

By CYRUS OMBATI@

The Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko wants to appoint a team of special prosecutors to handle the over 5000 pending post election violence cases.

Mr Tobiko said he plans to hire the services of prosecutors of international repute to work with the multi-agency taskforce set up in February to review all the PEV cases.

The team of experts will include top-notch local and foreign lawyers who will work with the agency that draws its membership from all departments in the criminal justice system.

In recruiting the prosecutors, Tobiko will seek the input of the Law Society of Kenya, the International Criminal Court and the International Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to identify persons with the required competence and integrity.

The DPP said ICC should not be viewed as a foreign judicial system noting that its role is complimentary and a court of last resort.

"ICC is already domesticated and localised by the International Crimes Act as well as the Constitution. Consequently, the question of Kenya pulling out of ICC should not arise at all. ICC is already part of the judicial system and, therefore, Kenya must continue as it has been doing to fully cooperate with the ICC," he said.

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The DPP has already formalised the operations of the agency, chaired by Dorcas Oduor, a senior prosecuting counsel, through a Gazette Notice dated April 18.

Recommend prosecution

It has a six-month mandate to re-evaluate all the files and recommend prosecution or other dispute resolution mechanisms like reconciliation, restitution and reparation.

The agency will also review all reports and publications related to the 2007/08 chaos, including the report of the judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Post Election Violence (CIPEV), commonly referred to as the Waki Report, and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHRC) report, and recommend their implementation.

It has power to cooperate and affiliate with other institutions, including the International Criminal Court, which is currently trying four Kenyan suspects.

The task force was appointed to re-evaluate post-election violence cases and ascertain whether additional suspects should be charged in connection with the chaos.

The team is expected to conduct countrywide review, re-evaluation and re-examination post-election violence cases pending before court or those under investigation, guide the police on further investigations and undertake prosecution where appropriate, recommend to the Government how the cases can be expeditiously disposed off and make periodic reports to the DPP.

The task force has representatives from the police, the Justice ministry, the Attorney General's office, the Witness Protection Agency and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

It will review reports, publications and judicial decisions relevant to the post-election violence to ascertain whether additional suspects should be investigated and prosecuted.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, are facing charges at the ICC over the 2007-08 post-election violence. Other suspects are Eldoret North MP William Ruto and and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.

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