Director-General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) nominee Noordin Haji on Tuesday, May 30, declined to reveal his net worth during his vetting by Members of Parliament.
While appearing before the Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, Haji stated that his net worth could become a matter of “national security” in the near future if he succeeds in getting the job, hence he would rather not disclose it publicly.
When he was pressed by the committee Chairman Nelson Koech to state his wealth for the purposes of having it on the record, Haji, who serves as the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), however, opted to present a statement declaring his wealth, accompanied by supporting documents, before the committee.
“Honourable chair, I am going to request considering the sensitivity of the office I will hold, that I give this to your committee because it might be a national security issue at some point,” he stated.
Haji was also pressed to explain why his office withdrew multiple cases involving senior government officials.
The DPP stated that his office was guided by the Constitution, which stated that the ODPP must withdraw a case if there is insufficient evidence or an abuse of the process of gathering evidence.
“The constitution is very clear on the rules and powers of ODPP. A lot of these cases that have been cited and withdrawn were made independently.”
“We had issues with how the evidence was passed to the ODPP. Initially, the evidence tabled showed we had sufficient evidence in most of those cases to prosecute. In some of those cases, the investigating officers presented evidence that was not complete, some were forged,” he stated.
