National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director General nominee Noordin Haji has declined to reveal his net worth, claiming that it would be a national security issue due to the sensitivity of the office.
Appearing before the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee, Haji said that stating his net worth in public could affect operations in his office if he is confirmed.
“I request to hand it over to you because this might become a matter of national security due to the nature of the office I will hold,” Haji said.
Responding to questions over recent withdrawals of graft cases, Haji said that he had no apologies to make for the withdrawals.
“My integrity has not been dented. I stand by the case withdrawals I have made and I make no apologies whatsoever. That is part of being a person of integrity. Withdrawal of cases is a constitutional power I was given. Nobody can come and question those powers. And if anybody wants to question, there is the court of law. And I have not seen anybody challenge them in court,” Haji said.
The nominee said that there was massive withdrawal of cases even before he became the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the office he currently holds.
“According to the statistics that I have here, In 2017 before I was even the DPP 11,188 withdrawals were undertaken, in 2018-2019 there were 10,600, in 2019 – 2020 there were 8,609, in 2020 – 2021 there were 18,750 and in 2021- 2022 there was 25,716,” he said.
According to Haji, most withdrawals were made in 2021 to decongest prisons and correctional facilities due to Covid-19 by withdrawing cases against petty offenders.
“People are trying to portray that it is only these high-profile cases that we have withdrawn. The issue of withdrawal is not something that should be packaged in a certain way that we were just benefiting the high and mighty or for political reasons,” Haji said.
Haji on his nomination
The DPP also denied reports that his nomination is a gift from President William Ruto, claiming that there was a lot of thought given to his appointment.
“This is not a gift or a token from the President as you are trying to say. NIS is not an organisation you will gift someone because of the good work someone has done. A lot of thought was put into this and President Ruto must have seen the value of having me as his nominee,” he said.
Haji previously served at NIS as the Deputy Director of the Counter-Organised Crime Unit within the National Intelligence Service.
