The simmering row between the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DC) and office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) resurfaced on Tuesday during the aborted arraignment of the ports authority boss.
Mr. Daniel Manduku, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director, had been taken to the Milimani Law Courts to face charges over alleged engagement in corruption and abuse of office.
But the KPA boss was freed after the DPP failed to produce the charge sheet for Mr. Manduku, saying that the office had not been consulted by the DCI.
The investigating officer Gituathi Njoroge insisted that he had a file and charge sheet to present to the court.
However, the prosecution said that it had not approved the charges against Mr. Manduku since the DCI had not forwarded the file to the ODPP for approval.
Following the public spat, the court said that there was no file registered to have Mr. Manduku and his would-be co-accused to take pleas.
Therefore, the court discharged the matter until the DPP and the DCI put their house in order.
Speaking to the press after the incident, Mr. Manduku’s lawyer, Mr. Nelson Havi said that his client was not freed, rather he walked out of the court free because there was no lawful arrest made.
Further, Mr. Havi said that the country seems to be fighting success and development instead of corruption.
Mr. Manduku had been arrested on Monday mid-morning and taken to the DCI headquarters on Kiambu Road for questioning over the possible loss of Sh6 billion at the KPA over the last year.
The amount in question includes Sh2.5 billion that police suspect might have been lost in the ongoing rehabilitation of the Kisumu port.
Additional reporting by Nancy Gitonga.
