Chief Justice Martha Koome has distanced herself from s statement s by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) that her remarks swayed the charging of protesters with terrorism.
In a press release on Wednesday, CJ Koome reiterated her remarks that the protesters who torched the Kikuyu Law Courts had committed a terrorist act were in direct response to that specific incident and were not meant to apply to any other protests, events, individuals, or locations.
As such, she maintained that ODPP was an independent entity, whose decision-making when preferring changes could not be influenced by an outside party, even though it cited her remarks in explaining the Prevention of Terrorism Act on Monday. "It is important to emphasise that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is fully independent, as guaranteed by Article 157(10) of the Constitution.
This means that the DPP cannot be directed or influenced by any person or authority," she stated.
