Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has defended the decision to prosecute Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu over graft allegations.
In response to Mwilu’s petition which is seeking to terminate the criminal proceedings, the chief prosecutor maintained that his decision was independent and not politically instigated.
Haji, through senior prosecuting counsel Lillian Ogwora, says his move was purely based on evidence, law and public interest.
The DPP has denied that his action was borne out of the decision she made in the August 8, 2017 presidential election petition in which she was among Supreme Court judges who annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win.
Haji who has asked the High Court to dismiss Mwilu’s petition arguing that she has not demonstrated he acted outside his powers to prosecute.
He contends that issues raised by Justice Mwilu on whether the charges were rightly or wrongly preferred against her are issues that the trial court can competently resolve.
“To quash the proceedings as prayed by the petitioner would amount to impeding the DPP from performing his constitutional and statutory duties,” Ogwora stated.
“Having reached an independent decision to prosecute, the DPP should not be vilified without any justifiable cause,” she added.
On his part, DCI George Kinoti claims that Mwilu unlawfully received Sh12 million from Imperial Bank Limited which was credited to her account on October 23, 2013.
According to police officer Abdallah Komesha, the lead investigator, the amount was given to her under circumstances which were not commensurate to the bank-customer relationship as no appraisal on her credit worth had been done.
Investigations have also revealed that her son Timothy Mutunga is working at Imperial Bank Limited where he was employed in 2015.
Among the charges that the DCJ faces include abuse of office, failure to pay stamp duty, improperly obtaining Sh12 million from the troubled bank which is under receivership and obtaining security by false pretence.