NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 24- At least 200 specialized prosecutors have been appointed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, in a move meant to expedite prosecution of electoral offences.
The prosecutors will be deployed across all 47 Counties.
The ODPP on Thursday said they will be stationed in some 129 court stations, across the country.
Other than electoral offences, they will handle cases of hate speech.
The ODPP has further announced the establishment of the Electoral Justice Division.
Already, Chief Justice Martha Koome has appointed a total of 119 special magistrates to handle such election-related matters.
“Historically, elections in Kenya often trigger an upsurge of hate speech, ethnic contempt, sexual and gender-based violence, incitement to violence and loss of property, voter bribery among other electoral malpractices,” DPP Noordin Haji said.
He was speaking during the validation workshop on the ODPP compendium on Electoral Justice by the criminal justice actors.
“We have also institutionalised the Election Preparedness Committee, specifically tasked with coordination, research, data collection, and analysis of all election-related matters,” Haji added.
The criminal justice actors have come up with policies and guidelines which are geared towards effective prevention, investigation and prosecution of election-related offences. It aims at providing tools for efficient and effective prosecution of election and related offences.
It consists of a Rapid Reference Guide for Prosecution of Election Offences including Economic Crimes Committed in the context of elections; a Rapid Reference Guide for Prosecution of Hate Speech and Related Offences; Sexual and Gender Based Offences; Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Offences; and Jurisprudential developments and best practices.
To further build synergy, a joint training has been organised next month April between state and non-state actors in order to draw from expertise and best practices from common law jurisdiction.
Haji said it was important that the officials remain vigilant and proactive to ensure that they detect and prevent election-related malpractices and offences.
DPP Haji warned against misinformation to the public which he said not only weaken the interagency cooperation and coordination but also erodes the public’s confidence in the electoral justice process and overall administration of criminal justice.
“As ODPP, we will continue to execute our mandate in accordance with the rule of law without fear or favour and guided by facts, evidence, and the law. I therefore, urge all of us to play our respective roles to enhance confidence on our electoral processes,” he said.
The session was attended by the CJ Koome, the Attorney General Kihara Kariuki, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) CEO Marjan Marjan, the Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu, the NCIC’s Samuel Kobia, the CEO EACC, and the representative of the DCI.
Others were the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) chair Anne Makori, Communications Authority of Kenya, President of the Law Society of Kenya Eric Theuri, and the Executive Director, the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya).
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