Oparanya Arrest and Charges Must Follow High Court Judgement Quashing DPP's Decision to Drop Corruption Charges
PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 16th September 2025
The National Integrity Alliance calls for the immediate arrest of the Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and MSMEs Development, Wycliffe Oparanya following a high court judgement issued today by Hon. Musyoki. The High Court has ruled that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally when it reversed an earlier decision to prosecute the former Kakamega Governor, now serving as Cabinet Secretary.
In his judgement, Hon. Justice B.M. Musyoki declared that the DPP’s directive to drop charges of corruption, conflict of interest, abuse of office, and money laundering was irregular, opaque, and contrary to public interest. The judgement further revealed that the DPP acted unconstitutionally by disregarding the input of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the mandated investigative agency, and instead relied solely on submissions from Wycliffe Oparanya’s legal team.
This judgement is a landmark moment in the fight against impunity and state capture. It sets a crucial precedent affirming that the DPP cannot operate as a law unto itself. The Constitution, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, and the 2019 Guidelines on the Decision to Charge do not give the DPP unfettered discretion to terminate cases without due consultation with investigative agencies.
As of September 2025, EACC reports that 18 high-profile graft cases have been unilaterally dropped by the ODPP despite credible investigation files. This disturbing pattern has also been echoed by the Senate’s County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC), which has repeatedly flagged the collapse of strong cases at the prosecution stage. The judgment delivered today validates these concerns and sends a clear message: the era of selective prosecution and political protection must end.
We strongly support EACC claims that these withdrawals hurt public confidence in anticorruption efforts. Considering this landmark judgement, the National Integrity Alliance DEMANDS:
1. The immediate arrest of Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya based on the corruption charges that were unlawfully dropped.
2. That the Director of Public Prosecutions immediately files fresh charges in accordance with the EACC’s investigative findings and today’s court judgement.
3. That the DPP ceases the unconstitutional usurpation of investigative functions and respects the EACC’s constitutional mandate under Article 79 and Chapter Six of the Constitution.
4. That institutional cooperation between the ODPP and EACC be immediately restored and enforced, to uphold the integrity of the criminal justice system and safeguard public trust in the fight against corruption.
This judgement is a victory for accountability, transparency, and the rule of law. It exposes and condemns the backdoor deals that have long shielded powerful individuals from justice. The time for impunity is over. The people of Kenya deserve a justice system that protects the public interest, not the powerful.
THE NATIONAL INTEGRITY ALLIANCE (NIA) The National Integrity Alliance (NIA) is a citizen-centered integrity and anti-corruption coalition comprising Transparency International Kenya (TI-Kenya), Inuka Kenya Ni Sisi! The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and The Institute of Social Accountability (TISA). NIA seeks to breathe life into the constitutional promise on Integrity by catalyzing frontline ethics and anti-corruption institutions, and active citizens to Detect, Deter, Disrupt and Defeat corruption at all levels of society. www.nia-ke.org | X: @RedCardKE | #RadaNiIntegrity For media inquiries, please contact Njeri Wangari at 0722353657 (jwangari@tikenya.org) or Grace Awuor at 0700540406 (gawuor@khrc.or.ke)