DPP calls for an embrace of Prosecution-guided Investigations in Anti-Counterfeit cases

The Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga, CBS, OGW in advancing his strategic agenda on inter-agency collaboration today met with the Anti-counterfeit Authority team led by the Chief Executive Officer Dr. Robi Njoroge to discuss areas of mutual cooperation towards addressing the counterfeit crime in Kenya.

The Anti-counterfeit Authority is a state corporation established under the Anti-counterfeit Act, Cap. 510 Laws of Kenya mandated with combating counterfeiting, trade, and dealings in counterfeit goods in Kenya as well as enlightening and informing the public on matters relating to counterfeiting among other roles.

The team discussed among others having joint training between officers from the Anticounterfeit authority and prosecutors to empower them with advanced skills and expertise to tackle both the investigation and prosecution of such crimes.

The DPP shared with them the need to embrace prosecution-guided investigations when dealing with counterfeit crimes noting that it will have a more enhanced quality of investigations and evidence which when presented in court will have a strong basis to secure convictions.

“As agencies mandated to ensure the law has been abided by to the letter, we are expected to ensure our working relationship is focused on achieving the best for the country. Kenyans have bestowed us with the responsibility and we must at all times work towards that,” said the DPP.

They also agreed to hold bi-annual meetings between the two institutions to evaluate and assess the progress of Anti-counterfeit cases and evaluate areas of improvement.

Discussions on having joint trainings were also discussed, these trainings are focused on equipping both prosecutors and inspectors from the anti-counterfeit authority with advanced skills to combat emerging trends and crimes related to counterfeiting.

The Chief Executive Officer Dr. Njoroge assured the DPP that they are ready to embrace prosecution-guided investigations to help achieve concrete evidence that increases the conviction rates and leads to reduced cases of counterfeit crimes in Kenya. He noted that in the past 5 years, the authority working with the ODPP has secured 14 convictions with fines of KSh. 296,259,850 imposed on the accused persons.