Haji: How are we going to deal with the big shots related to drugs

A number of prominent Kenyans named in bribery charges against drug traffickers Baktash and Ibrahim Akasha will not be secretly taken out of the country and sent to the United States for trial, along with the brothers. and controversial sisters, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). said.

Mr. Noordin Haji told the Daily Nation In an exclusive interview Friday, Kenya intends to fully cooperate with US efforts to prosecute more than 10 politicians, judges, businessmen and a lawyer for helping drug trafficking infamous world of the Akashas.

But he will do this by following the extradition procedure and following the judicial procedure, he said.

Haji said his office is still waiting for a formal request from the US government for people Washington wants to try for various Akasha-related offenses.

The application will determine the action that the DPP office will undertake and whether the appointees will be judged in the US or locally as a result of an investigation.

The Akasha brothers were arrested by the Kenyan authorities on 28 January in Mombasa, along with Pakistani nationals Gulam Hussein and India's Vijaygiri Goswami, before being handed over to the DEA two days later.

On January 30, the DEA embarked the four individuals on a plane and airlifted them to the United States, where they were charged with drug trafficking.

Baktash and Ibrahim pleaded guilty last month to seven counts, including trafficking in heroin and methamphetamine, also known as methamphetamine.

At the time, the two brothers filed an appeal in the High Court of Mombasa to stop their extradition to the United States.

On the day of their extradition, Mombasa High Court Judge Njoki Mwangi issued an order prohibiting the police chief, Joseph Boinett, and the director of criminal investigations, Ndegwa Muhoro, from extraditing the barons of Drugs. She also ordered that the Akasha brothers be produced before her.

Mr. Haji submits that the Akashas were grouped in this manner because previous attempts to follow the extradition procedures had been in vain.

"We have not completed the process between us and the United States," Haji said during the interview. "We are aware of the investigations. We know the individuals, but we have to wait for the request from the United States before naming anyone. The reason that extraordinary measures were taken with the Akashas was constant frustration. But at this point, the Kenyan government will cooperate. We will do our best to ensure that the law is respected. "

The PDP added that even though the US is seeking extradition from those who are named in the Akasha case and the suspects are asking the courts to stop the process, his office says he will not go to court. will stick to the judicial process.

Baktash and Ibrahim also admitted to bribing police and judges – key actors in the criminal justice system – to delay their planned extradition to the United States.

Hamsi Salim Mbada, head of the anti-drug unit of the Criminal Investigations Branch, told a US court in August that the Kenyan government had independently ordered the "expulsion" of the Akasha brothers from the city. 39, last year.

A cabinet secretary, a governor, a lawyer, a prosecutor, a senior detective, two judges and two magistrates are among the dozens of prominent Kenyans on whom the US Department of Justice is investigating allegations of corruption on the part of Akashas.

During the interview, Mr. Haji made it clear that he had no personal vendetta against the judiciary nor that the two institutions disagreed, adding that there were some corrupt people in the criminal justice system in general.

Since Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu was arrested for abuse of power and other suspicious-related offenses with the collapsed Imperial Bank, there have been rumors that Mr. Haji is at war with the judiciary.

But the DPP insists that most law enforcement officers work hard and that their efforts are diluted by some corrupt elements of the system.

It addresses the issues individually and indicates that the DCI and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission are investigating four audit-related cases, and that two of them are about to be investigated. Be finished.

"Corruption exists in the criminal justice system, not just in the justice system. I've already said that most magistrates do a good job. There are corrupt police, prosecutors and even members of the executive. Everyone (in the justice system) should take responsibility, "said Haji.