Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji has now gone after Senator James Orengo, filing a motion seeking for the lawyer to be disqualified from representing Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu.

On Thursday, Haji’s deputy, Dorcas Oduor told a five-judge bench that the DPP would seek to block Orengo from the Mwilu case over conflict of interest.

Oduor said that Orengo was a Senator who was part of the committee that oversees the DPP and had access to privileged information that was not before the courts.

Conflict of Interest

“I Understand the constitutional principle that every person has a right to be represented by a lawyer of their choice, but it is with a heavy heart that I make the application for Senator James Orengo to be disqualified from these proceedings.”

“This morning, the senator said he was not aware of the matter (Quresh’s appointment) which is procedurally true as the parties were informed this morning. However, as a senator, he was present yesterday when the DPP appeared before the Senate and explained the appointment. There is a conflict of interest when the Senator uses Parliamentary privilege to access information and at the same time appears for a party as an advocate,” Oduor stated.

The DPP also filed another motion for the disqualification of Kisii Senator Okong’o Omogeni who is also part of the DCJ’s legal team.

Queen’s Counsel Khawar Qureshi

The applications were filed minutes after Orengo sought Queen’s Counsel Khawar Qureshi to be disqualified from prosecuting the case.

Orengo argued that Qureshi did not have a certificate of admission that would allow him to appear before the High Court of Kenya.

The judges asked Mwilu's legal team to launch a formal complain so that a full ruling could be made on the matter.