Programme 'to curb crime'

2008-05-09 11:58

Nairobi - Kenya on Thursday launched a witness-protection programme in a bid to fight surging crime in the east African nation.

The programme was launched nearly a year since President Mwai Kibaki signed the Witness Protection Act into law, but implementation was delayed by layers of bureaucracy.

"Experiences elsewhere have demonstrated that the witness protection programme is a vital complement to the criminal justice system, which ensures that the culture of impunity is eliminated by getting sufficient evidence from those who may be in possession of it," said Attorney General Amos Wako.

Under the programme, a new identity would be established for a witness or a whistle blower and his or her family relocated elsewhere to guarantee their safety.

It also allows the High Court to make new entries in the register of births, deaths or marriages and also imposes a seven-year jail sentence for any person convicted of blowing the cover of an individual, who is a beneficiary of the programme.

However, the law does not extend a blanket protection to cover witnesses appearing before all legal proceedings, even quasi-judicial ones like commissions of inquiry and parliamentary committees.

Analysts say the programme is vital especially in the fight against organised crime and corruption that have blighted the country since it got independence from Britain in 1963.

- AFP