“Withdrawal of cases should begin with hustlers,”Sifuna says.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has criticised the Kenya Kwanza administration over the withdrawal of high-profile cases involving politicians allied to President William Ruto by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

DPP Noordin Haji has in recent days withdrawn cases of prominent Kenyans, among them Cabinet Secretaries Aisha Jumwa and Mithika Linturi, which a section of Kenya Kwanza politicians has termed as the arrival of freedom to Kenyans. Haji cited lack of sufficient evidence.

Additionally, the DPP made an application to have a fraud case against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and others withdrawn on the grounds that investigations into the case are incomplete.But according to Sifuna, the government should give prominence to the withdrawal of petty offenders’ cases, given President Ruto campaigned on a ‘bottom-up’ platform centred on empowering ordinary Kenyans (hustlers).
“To the deputy president, congratulations, your freedom has come now serve the people. You told us everything you will do will be bottom-up, so even this freedom you should start with the petty offenders who are in jail,” Sifuna said on Thursday.

The Nairobi senator further asked President Ruto’s administration to extend the purported freedom to Sirisia MP John Waluke, who was last month jailed for 67 years over a Ksh.297 million National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) maize fraud case.
“I hope you also extend it to my brother Waluke. He called me yesterday, he is a broken man in the cells. They should look at this matter and see if it is possible to extend this freedom to Waluke and the hustlers before you get to the bosses,” said Sifuna.

The anti-corruption court will on Thursday, November 10, deliver a ruling on whether it will withdraw DP Gachagua’s case which the prosecution has said will be prejudicial for it to go on as it is.Sifuna has said that DPP Haji should take responsibility for abusing his power in pressing charges against the politicians without sufficient evidence.
“The bigger question remains, will the public ever know whether there was money lost in the CDF of Mathira or not. If the prosecutors themselves are coming out to say yes, there was not sufficient evidence then this is a clear abuse of the prosecutorial power,” he said.

Haji had previously claimed that his office was misled by the former Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti to believe there was concrete evidence in DP Gachagua’s, adding that he was “pushed by the DCI himself, through the media.”

According to Sifuna, however, the truth on whether the DPP was pushed by the previous administration, through the DCI as alleged, to press the charges, or if he is being pushed by the current administration to withdraw them is still unclear.
“We don’t know if the pressure was applied then or now so that these cases are dropped, we will know in the fullness of time,” he said.

Article By Suzy Nyongesa.