DP Ruto nemesis Philip Murgor ,3 others appointed to head public prosecutions by DPP Haji

The former Director of Public Prosecutions Philip Murgor is among three lawyers who have been gazetted as public prosecutors for two years.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji announced the appointment of Murgor, former Mombasa Mayor Taib Ali Taib and lawyer James Kihara Murithi as public prosecutors in a notice dated January 15.

Haji said the move was aimed at strengthening the capacity at his office in light of the increasing complexity of crime.The move followed a long rigorous process that began in September 2018.

A public advertisement was made that requested interested lawyers to apply for pre-qualification to join the panel of ODPP lawyers for legal services.

Haji said 15 applications were received and processed but three were pre-qualified.“The responses were not as expected and therefore the DPP will advertise again in order to build a strong portfolio of special prosecutors to assist the ODPP,” said the DPP.

This comes in the wake of Haji’s move to appoint a Queen’s Counsel Khawar Qureshi to lead corruption cases against judicial and government officials. His appointment has been opposed in court. He said he took the move because some local counsels had declined to prosecute the matter.

“I also wanted an independent person to handle the matter because there were allegations of bias and witch hunt against my office at large,” he said.

Haji appointed the London-based professor through single-sourcing after failing to find a suitable candidate through advertisement.

The DPP said the appointment was in line with the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, Article 157 (9) of the Constitution and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act.

“Taking into account the transnational nature of the offences, the complexity and the special skills required to maintain the integrity of the process, the DPP has deemed it prudent, and has decided to appoint Khawar Qureshi, QC, and his assistants to be consultant and lead prosecution counsel on behalf of the ODPP,” said the notice on the website of the ODPP.