Four years on, 5,000 chaos cases pending

Four years after Kenya’s post-election violence, over 5,500 cases have not been investigated Attorney General Githu Muigai has said.

The AG told Parliament Wednesday that the case files “especially those that have no likelihood of proceeding” will be returned to the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko for his word on how the prosecuting counsels handling them should proceed.

Prof Muigai was also hard-pressed to explain to Parliament why the DPP had not listed rape as a crime, despite credible complaints and witnesses, who underwent the ordeal during the mayhem that rocked the country in December 2007 and January 2008.

“I was also surprised that there were no cases of rape. Offences of sexual nature do require that certain procedures be undertaken. Most of the sexual assault cases are reported here as assault and grievous harm,” said the Attorney General.

But the MPs including John Mututho (Naivasha) who had put the question to the AG, Gitobu Imanyara, the temporary deputy Speaker in the Wednesday morning session, and Charles Kilonzo (Yatta) said rape was a crime and ought to be investigated separately.

Prof Muigai said he’d go back to the DPP to get the specific data on rape cases filed with the police.

The AG said there were 6,081 cases that were filed in the aftermath of the chaos. Of these, 258 cases were concluded and the accused persons convicted; 87 suspects were acquitted for lack of evidence; 137 cases were withdrawn, 50 cases are pending before the courts.

Of the 5,500 cases, there were 400 that were “still under active investigation”.

The crimes being investigated, Prof Muigai said, include “murder, arson, taking part in a riot, being armed in a public place, publishing false rumours” among others.

But Mr Imanyara sought to know if a “rumour can be true”.

“A rumour may have a basis, and can be legitimately peddled. A false rumour is alarmist and has no truth in it,” said Prof Muigai.

He said many of the investigations were on hold because the complainants, many of them displaced from their areas of residence, had not returned and therefore it became difficult to pursue the cases.

The AG told the House all District Criminal Investigations Officers had been asked to hand over all the cases pending on their desks to their respective prosecution counsels for advice on how the cases will be concluded.

He added that Kenya had strengthened the Witness Protection  Programme and that it was in talks with international partners like the International Criminal Court to make sure that all those who testify in the cases related to the post-poll violence were protected.

He said that in October 2011, the AG, the DPP and acting director Witness Protection Agency visited the ICC for talks on the protection of Kenyan witnesses, after which it got a commitment that the court would help Kenya.

“The WPP is only one of two in the whole of the African continent. The other one is in South Africa. Kenya will benefit from the other institutions that have experience in this matter,” said the Attorney General.

He added that more magistrates will be picked to ensure the speedy conclusion of the cases.