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Lawyer Danstan Omari has joined the growing list of those seeking to become Kenya’s next director of public prosecutions.
The seat of the country’s topmost prosecutor fell vacant after former officeholder Noordin Haji was appointed the director of the National Intelligence Service.
The Public Service Commission on Monday inaugurated the selection panel for the recruitment of the next DPP.
Omari on Thursday told the Star he was going to apply for the job.
He said he had the required qualifications for the job given his vast experience in the corridors of justice.
“I don’t think there is anyone who is more qualified than I am right now. I don’t think there is anyone who can compete with me in the criminal space,” Omari said.
The panel consists of Solicitor General Shadrack Mose, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission CEO Twalib Mbarak, Public Service PS Mary Kimonye and Central Organization of Trade Unions secretary general Francis Atwoli.
Others in the seven-member panel are Kenya National Commission on Human Rights chairperson Roseline Odede, Public Service Secretary Mary Adhiambo and Richard Obwocha.
The panel was unveiled via a Gazette Notice dated June 21 by President William Ruto.
The team is tasked with recruiting and recommending suitable candidates to the president for appointment.
The panel has already invited suitable Kenyans to apply for the job before July 12.
Omari has represented various clients in cases ranging from causing disorder in protests to murder.
He is currently representing Pastor Ezekiel Odero of Newlife International Prayer Centre and Church whom the state has linked to cult deaths in Shakahola.
He also represented former Interior CS Fred Matiang’i following his run-ins with the state over an alleged police raid at his Karen home.
Lawyer Cliff Ombeta who is representing Pastor Ezekiel alongside Omari is among those who have applied for the job.
Top legal practitioners Kioko Kilokumi and Katwa Kigen have also been linked with the job. BY THE STAR