Walter Menya
12 November 2009
Nairobi — The government has proposed wide ranging amendments to the Witness Protection Act that aims at guaranteeing the safety of witnesses in the post-election violence trials.
Attorney General Amos Wako Thursday said the Draft Witness Protection (Amendment) Bill 2009 has been finalised and will now be taken to Cabinet for approval before Parliament begins debate by December.
He was addressing the East Africa regional conference on witness protection at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi.
Among the highlights of the Bill include the establishment and incorporation of a Witness Protection Agency to replace the existing Witness Protection Unit. The agency will be delinked from the AG's office and enjoy independence and autonomy.
In order to provide financial autonomy for the agency, it is proposed that its funding be derived directly from the Consolidated Fund though it will also be within its legal bounds to receive grants, donations, gifts or endowments and disburse the same.
"The Agency shall therefore control and administer its own funds," said Mr Wako.
Mr Wako acknowledged the shortcomings of the Witness Protection Unit as under a government department or ministry, stating: "Since its inception, the Witness Protection Unit has experienced some operational difficulties attributable largely to its lack of statutory independence and autonomy under the current legislation."
Similarly, Mr Wako said that the Witness Protection Act 2006 was inherently inadequate to serve the purpose for which it was created owing to its inability to recruit personnel and mobilise its own resources which the Draft Bill now seeks to cure.
For its operations and administrative functions, the proposed agency shall have a director who shall be its chief executive and accounting officer. The director shall enjoy the security of tenure.
The director will have an assistant and protection officers who the Bill also seeks to provide with powers, privileges and immunities of a police officer.
Witness Protection has been identified as crucial to the trial of the perpetrators of the post-election violence.
At a meeting between ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and a government delegation consisting of Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo in Geneva in July this year, the government committed to institute comprehensive mechanisms to protect victims and witnesses.
Human rights activists and legal experts have also been calling for strengthening of the Act so it can provide adequate shield to victims and witnesses.
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) vice chairman Hassan Omar has stated that the Act needs an overhaul since it had suffered "public credibility and a confidence crisis" as it falls under a discredited Attorney General's office.
"It needs to be taken away from the AG's office if it is to win the confidence of potential witnesses," said Mr Omar.
Mr Wako was confident that once the proposed amendments are enacted into law, the new Agency would be able to administer the witness protection programme effectively and in accordance with international standards and practice.
Kenya is the second country in Sub-saharan Africa after South Africa to have a witness protection legislation.
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