A city businessman has filed a second petition at the Public Service Commission seeking the removal of Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji from office for gross misconduct.
The first petition was filed by late Tob Cohen’s sister Gabriel Van Straten accusing the DPP of mismanaging her late brother’s case.
Francis Njeru claims the DPP has mismanaged his case where there is a property dispute between him, China Road Bridge Corporation, and ARJ Capital.
The property in question is along Mombasa road at Kyangombe village in Embakasi and Njeru has claimed ownership over it.
Njeru tells PSC that after investigations the directors of ARJ Capital Ahmed Rashid Jibril and Farah Ali Mohamed who are allegedly related to Haji were charged in January 2020 for conspiracy to defraud, making a false document, and obtaining registration of land by false pretences.
However, on March 2, 2020, he claims the DPP made an application to withdraw the matter from the court but his lawyer objected to the application and the magistrate also declined.
The court ruled that the matter should be heard and determined with finality since the investigations were immensely elaborate.
Through Lawyer Danstan Omari and Cliff Ombeta, Njeru claims that the DPP then moved to the High Court in a bid to drop the charges before Justice Daniel Ogembo but the judge refused to withdraw the case.
It is alleged that they went back to the trial court and the prosecutor urged the court to avoid the temptation of interfering with the independence of the DPP even suggesting that Njeru can as well use private prosecution if he was determined to have the matter prosecuted.
The court allowed the application for withdrawal and gave the petitioner an option to pursue private prosecution and granted him leave to do so.
Njeru says the DPP has also sought a revision of the orders of the court that allowed him to pursue private prosecution which application is still pending.
He has accused Haji of interrupting the matter for his own personal interest which is meant to ensure that the two directors are not prosecuted.
“The Petitioner has since established that the basis behind the Director of Public Prosecutions stubborn refusal to prosecute the suspects and his concerted efforts to have Criminal Case No 2144 of 2019 R v. Ahmed Rashid Jibril and Farrah Ali Mohamed withdrawn, is based upon his close family relations with the accused persons who are his first cousins and another a brother to one of Kenya’s influential Cabinet Secretaries,” the petition reads.
Njeru says that the actions of the DPP demonstrate a self-serving, nepotistic or egomaniac public officer that long abandoned his oath of office to protect his alleged family members, relatives, friends and relatives.