Nairobi — The nominee for the Attorney General post Dorcas Oduor has told the National Assembly Appointment Committee that her vast experience makes her fit to be appointed to the Attorney General' post.
Oduor boasted of her 30 years' experience where she served in the State Law Office and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution in which she is currently serving as the Deputy Director of Public Prosecution.
Her legal career started in 1992 when she was admitted to the role of advocate of the High Court where she was employed to serve at the state law office, rising from the position to that of the secretary public prosecutions.
In the 2017, she was placed at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions as a result of the delinking of prosecution from the Office of the Attorney General in 2017 following the 2010 constitution.
"I have gained extensive experience and expertise throughout that period. Not only have I been involved in many complex courtrooms and high profile cases, I've also made significant contributions in the formulation of policy and other protocols relevant to the rule of law," she said.
The Attorney General nominee indicated that she is aware of the enormity of the responsibility in the AG's office.
She noted that high legal concepts are still evolving through the growing jurisprudence in our courts and internationally.
"The position of the Attorney General calls for far much more than just that of an advocate for one client, the public interest demands of the office the duty to respect advocate and operationalize at all cadres of the administration," Oduor noted.
The nominee will make history as the first woman Attorney General appointed into office if she found suitable by the vetting committee chaired by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula.
"It is also not lost on me that this is a historic moment in that this will be the first time for a Kenyan woman to be interviewed for this high office in the legal sector," she said.
"I'm therefore under no illusion that should I be approved by this August house. Much would be expected of me, both as a jurist and, more significantly, as a woman."
She elaborated that while she worked at the State Law Office where she was given opportunity to prosecute 1998 bomb last case in New York for the repatriation of the victims.
She also listed the Gachanja case where we forfeited proceeds of crime in the matter that was upheld in the Supreme Court once the matter was appealed.
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"In the DPP I was appointed to serve in commission and taskforces. Like the Goldenberg commission where after we submitted the report, we have the PFM act. Also serving in different taskforces we have had institution like IPOA,"Oduor noted.
The nominee is an advocate of the High Court and holds a Master of Arts in International Conflict Management, a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B), and a Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law.
Oduor has previously served as Head of the Economic, International, and Emerging Crimes Departments at the ODPP, as well as Deputy Chief State Counsel and State Counsel in the Department of Public Prosecution at the then Office of the Attorney General.
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