NAIROBI, Kenya, May 21 — A civil society alliance has threated to file a lawsuit to bar Noordin Haji from taking office as Director General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) should the House approve his nomination.
Led by Transparency International (Kenya), the National Integrity Alliance (NIA) Sunday said Haji is unfit to hold office citing integrity concerns.
NIA urged President Ruto who nominated Haji presently serving as Director of Public Prosecutions to consider alternative candidates.
“In the past eight months, Kenyans have been astonished by a pattern of the withdrawal of corruption cases involving certain politically connected individuals,” said Sheila Masinde, Transparency International’s Executive Director.
The alliance accused Haji of gross misconduct, incompetence and non-compliance with the Constitution, violations the civil society groups argued would disqualify him from holding any public office.
“This raises doubts about the director of public prosecution’s impartiality and his commitment to fighting corruption,” Davis Malombe, Kenya Human Rights Commission’s Executive Director, added.
NIA further accused Haji of perpetuating impunity and aiding the government by acquitting corrupt leaders. The alliance added that corruption remains a pervasive problem that continues to bedevil the country.
The civil society groups appealed to the National Assembly to block Haji’s appointment.
“In case Mr. Haji sails through the sieving process in parliament, we are prepared to challenge his appointment in the courts of law,” Malombe stated.
Haji is poised to succeed Major-General (Rtd) Philip Wachira Kameru who has held the position for over 8 years.
Should his nomination sail through, he will be returning to the NIS after a six-year sojourn as the Director of Public Prosecutions having been porched from the intelligence community.
