Abstract:
Witnesses in highly sensitive cases are often intimated and physically harmed by
people they are witnessing against or their associated. Kenyan government has
enacted witness protection laws as results of pressure from International Criminal
Court as part of conditions in prosecution of Post-Election Violence (PEV). This
study sought to identify and document challenges facing implementation of witness
protection program in Kenya. Specifically, this current study sought to achieve
following objectives: to evaluate capacity gaps in Witness Protection Program and
underlying causes; to explore adequate legal threshold and practice in Kenya‘s
criminal justice system that expressly protects witnesses in court; to assess
infrastructure-related challenges prevailing in protection of witnesses and to
investigate socio-cultural barriers influencing protection of witnesses. This study is
premised on structural functionalism theory. Case study research design was utilized
in this study as it aided in gaining of in-depth information on issue of witness
protection program. This study‘s target population were witness protection program
officers working in diverse organizations including Attorney General‘s office, Law
Society of Kenya, Directorate of Public Prosecution, Kenya Police, Ministry of
Gender (Children‘s Department), Directorate of Witness Protection Agency,
Children‘s Court, and representatives from National Assembly. Purposive sampling
method was utilized to identify key informants from each of the organization totalling
40 respondents at five respondents per organization. Findings reveal a number of
challenges which impede successful implementation of witness protection program in
Kenya. They include: inadequate training due to limited resources and trainers;
financial constraints due to inadequate funding by treasury; unclear witness protection
procedures and poor infrastructural procedures of reaching witnesses. Infrastructure
related challenges included: lack security, lack of physical facilities such as safe
houses, escort services and audio gargets to protect witnesses. Also, major courts
being located in major cities limits access to legal systems by rural folk and reluctance
of some witnesses to leave their homes for the witness protection program. In
establishing socio-cultural barriers influencing protection of witnesses, the study
found that some cultures do not allow witnesses to testify in an open court especially
offences related to intimacy. Recommendation is made for further research that will
investigate ways of instituting effective programs which will focus on specific crimes
