Dorcas Oduor: This is why government loses cases, and how as AG, I will help reverse it
Attorney General Dorcas Oduor
Attorney-General nominee Dorcas Oduor has promised to come up with a policy defining parameters of public participation within the first hundred days to ensure the public views are heard in the law-making process in the country.
While appearing before the committee on Appointments, Ms Oduor said the lack of standards and clear definition of public participation has hindered the law-making process with most of the legislations made by Parliament nullified by the courts.
“Public participation should be meaningful and impactful. We need to have standards and procedures on what public participation should be.
"We need a policy on public participation to instigate a process of legislation making. Within 100 days, I will come up with a policy to cure this problem of public participation in law-making,” Ms Oduor told the Committee.
The nominee also promised to come up with a new way of evaluating government cases to reduce risks and fines.
“There are reasons why the government loses cases. You either have a bad case, bad representation/inadequate representation, or the court has heard.
"To resolve this before we go to court, I will ensure I look at the cases we have and mitigate the risk of going to court.
"If I have a bad case, I will look for alternative ways to protect government cases. AG should advise ministries on cases along these lines.
"Capacity building: enhance the capacity of the state counsels, their working conditions, et cetera. We will ensure we have the right people doing the job. If I lose because the court has heard, I have appeal alternatives to exploit,” she said.
Ms Oduor also promised to ensure the government comes up with bills that are constitutional to limit litigation.
“We are testing the constitution through bills and the constitution. It is good for us to test our constitution. I will focus on Finding out why they have been declared unconstitutional. I will advise to ensure that once we come up with a bill we have adhered to the constitution, she said.
The nominee was also put to task by the Committee on her failure to prosecute the suspects of the post-election violence in 2007. She however defended her decision arguing that it was made based on a taskforce recommendation and guided by law.
“I chaired a taskforce to look at offences committed during the post-election violence. As far as the prosecution is concerned, I was required to look at the evidence to be sure that I had sufficient evidence.
"I applied the law and I looked at the report by the taskforce which included members of the civil society and many others before deciding that there was no evidence for them to be charged,” Ms Oduor told the Committee.
Ms Dorcas Oduor was conferred with the title of Senior Counsel in July 2020, along with 23 other lawyers at the time including Kalonzo Musyoka, Philip Murgor, Otiende Amollo and Martha Karua.
First female AG.
If approved by Parliament, Ms Oduor will become Kenya's first female Attorney-General and the ninth overall.
All previous holders were male, beginning with the first Attorney-General Charles Mugane Njonjo, who held the position from independence in 1963 to 1979. He was replaced by Mr James Karugu, the man who served the office the shortest in 1981 and was When the Kenya Kwanza administration came into office, President William Ruto appointed the former Speaker of the National Assembly, Justin Bedan Muturi, as the Attorney-General.
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Mr Muturi served from 2022 to July 2024 when he was dismissed alongside other Cabinet Secretaries following widespread protests, which were triggered by an increase in taxes contained in the Finance Bill, 2024.
Ms Oduor was admitted to the bar as an advocate of the High Court in 1992, having attained her Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1990, and a postgraduate diploma at the Kenya School of Law a year later.
