Kenya Insights

Tag: NIS Director Noordin Haji

  • Tycoon Doshi Accuses NIS Boss Noordin Haji, State House of Witch Hunt as Court Saves Joho from Jail

    Tycoon Doshi Accuses NIS Boss Noordin Haji, State House of Witch Hunt as Court Saves Joho from Jail

    Mombasa billionaire launches explosive allegations against intelligence chief while losing major legal battle against Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho

    MOMBASA, Kenya – Embattled Mombasa billionaire Ashok Doshi has launched explosive allegations against National Intelligence Service Director Noordin Haji, accusing him of orchestrating a state-sponsored campaign to destroy his business empire in collaboration with State House operatives.

    The sensational claims emerged as the Court of Appeal delivered a crushing blow to Doshi’s decade-long legal crusade against Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho, overturning a contempt ruling that would have sent the former Mombasa governor to prison.

    Court delivers blow to Doshi

    In a significant legal victory for Joho, a three-judge Court of Appeal bench comprising Justices Agnes Murgor, Jessie Lesiit and George Odunga on Friday overturned a 2020 ruling that had sentenced the Cabinet Secretary and Mombasa MCA George Ogutu to six months imprisonment for contempt of court.

    The appellate judges ruled that Doshi and his wife Pratibha failed to prove that Joho was properly served with court papers in their land dispute case.

    Adding insult to injury, the court ordered the Doshis to pay all legal costs estimated at Sh15 million.

    The contempt case stemmed from allegations that Joho, while serving as Mombasa governor, had violated a court order by demolishing a perimeter wall on the Doshis’ Changamwe property in 2019, despite the couple’s claims of rightful ownership.

    “Haji is Ruto’s Attack Dog”

    Director General National Intelligence Service Noordin Haji.
    Director General National Intelligence Service Noordin Haji.

    According to sources close to the tycoon, Doshi has accused Haji of weaponizing state institutions against him since their earlier legal confrontations when Haji served as Director of Public Prosecutions.

    “First Haji tried to jail me over the Processional Way land case using fabricated charges. When courts stopped him, Ruto rewarded him with the NIS job to finish me through dirty tricks,” Doshi allegedly claimed.

    The businessman has pointed to what he describes as a pattern of persecution that began during Haji’s tenure as DPP and has intensified since his appointment to head the country’s premier intelligence agency.

    The billion-shilling land dispute

    At the center of Doshi’s legal troubles lies a prime piece of real estate along Nairobi’s Processional Way, valued at over Sh1.2 billion.

    The tycoon and his company Magnum Properties Ltd face four criminal counts including land fraud, forgery and illegal acquisition related to the disputed property.

    Court documents reveal that the land was allegedly fraudulently acquired from Greenview Lodge Ltd through a forged stamp duty receipt worth Sh1.2 million in 1992, before being transferred to Doshi’s company Rainy Days Ltd.

    Doshi maintains his innocence, claiming the land was legally purchased from former Garissa Governor Ali Korane. He has accused the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission of shielding Korane while pursuing him maliciously.

    State House connection alleged

    The billionaire has suggested deeper political motives behind his legal woes, pointing to President William Ruto’s historical connection to the coveted Processional Way property.

    “This is the same land Ruto was forced to surrender during Kibaki’s administration. Now his allies want it back through intimidation,” Doshi reportedly claimed, specifically naming Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi as demanding bribes for “protection.”

    Fighting for survival

    Despite mounting legal pressure, Doshi appears to be employing a multi-faceted defense strategy.

    This includes securing court injunctions to halt criminal proceedings, attempting to rebuild political bridges with government allies despite supporting opposition leader Raila Odinga in the 2022 elections, and launching a public relations offensive to portray himself as a victim of political persecution.

    The tycoon’s battle with Joho dates back to their clashes when the latter served as Mombasa governor, with Doshi reportedly spending millions attempting to derail Joho’s Cabinet appointment during his 2024 parliamentary vetting.

    Legal battles continue

    While Joho has emerged victorious in the contempt case, Doshi’s co-accused in the land fraud case, Harith Sheth, has successfully secured a court order halting his prosecution. Doshi’s own attempts to block the charges were dismissed by Justice Eric Ogola in 2021.

    The ongoing saga underscores the complex intersection of land disputes, political power and business interests in Kenya, where prime real estate often becomes the battleground for wider conflicts involving the country’s economic and political elite.

    As the various legal proceedings continue, the courts will ultimately determine whether Doshi’s claims of persecution hold water or whether he will face consequences for the alleged fraudulent acquisition of valuable public land.

  • Gachagua Accuses NIS Chief Haji of Misleading President Ruto with ‘Doctored’ Intelligence

    Gachagua Accuses NIS Chief Haji of Misleading President Ruto with ‘Doctored’ Intelligence

    Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has intensified his criticism of Noordin Haji, the Director General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), accusing him of providing President William Ruto with “doctored intelligence” that has led to misguided decisions and contributed to the president’s declining popularity.

    In an interview on the popular ObinnaTV podcast on Friday, Gachagua described the NIS as “dysfunctional” and claimed Haji manipulates intelligence to present an overly positive picture of public sentiment.

    “I speak with intelligence officers across the country who report raw data showing public hostility toward the administration,” Gachagua said.

    “But Noordin’s daily briefs to the president suggest everything is fine, which is far from the truth.”

    Gachagua cited the 2024 Finance Bill protests as an example, claiming he warned Ruto against pushing the bill due to widespread opposition but was ignored in favor of Haji’s advice.

    “The protests caught the president by surprise because he trusted Noordin over my counsel,” he alleged. Gachagua further described Haji as a “businessman” prioritizing personal deals, including with the Adani Group, over national interests, though he provided no evidence to support this claim.

    The former deputy president also questioned Haji’s qualifications, linking Ruto’s waning public support to the NIS chief’s alleged misguidance.

    “Two years ago, Ruto was a beloved leader. Now everywhere you go, people are chanting ‘Ruto must go,’” Gachagua said. “I told the president that Noordin is not fit for this role.”

    Gachagua’s allegations echo his earlier criticisms of Haji, notably during the 2024 Finance Bill protests, when he accused the NIS of failing to anticipate public unrest.

    At the time, he also claimed Haji falsely linked him and former President Uhuru Kenyatta to the protests, an accusation Haji dismissed as baseless.

    These repeated claims suggest Gachagua may be targeting Haji to undermine Ruto’s inner circle, possibly to bolster his own influence in the Mount Kenya region, where he retains significant support among the Kikuyu community.

    However, Gachagua’s accusations lack specific evidence.

    He provided no examples of falsified intelligence or documentation to substantiate his claims, raising questions about their credibility.

    His history of inflammatory statements since his October 2024 impeachment, including unsubstantiated allegations in April 2025 that Ruto facilitated money laundering through Nairobi, further complicates the reliability of his narrative.

    Political context

    Gachagua during his appearance on ObinnaTV from his home in Wamunyoro.
    Gachagua during his appearance on ObinnaTV from his home in Wamunyoro.

    Gachagua’s remarks come amid heightened political tensions in Kenya, with Ruto’s administration facing criticism over governance, economic challenges, and alleged human rights abuses, including reported abductions of government critics.

    Allegations of NIS involvement in cases like the 2024 abduction of cabinet minister Leslie Muturi’s son have fueled public distrust in the agency, lending some context to Gachagua’s claims of dysfunction.

    However, these issues do not directly corroborate his specific allegations of doctored intelligence.

    For Gachagua, the accusations serve to discredit Ruto’s leadership while positioning himself as a political contender ahead of future elections.

    At 59, he appears to be leveraging his Mount Kenya base to stage a comeback, though his focus on Haji, a figure from a minority community, risks accusations of tribalism, as seen in 2024 criticisms from former Mombasa Governor and now Mining Secretary Hassan Joho.

    For Ruto, the allegations challenge his administration’s cohesion.

    Haji remains a key ally, as evidenced by their January 2025 meeting amid abduction allegations.

    Haji’s 2024 statement that he reports directly to Ruto suggests Gachagua, even as deputy president, may have had limited insight into NIS operations, potentially weakening his current claims.

    The secretive nature of the NIS makes verifying claims of doctored intelligence difficult without access to classified briefings.

    While the agency’s failure to predict the scale of the 2024 protests has drawn legitimate criticism, Gachagua’s allegations remain speculative without concrete evidence.

    Watch the video below.

  • What You Need To Know About Intelligence University Run By NIS

    What You Need To Know About Intelligence University Run By NIS

    The grant of Charter to the National Intelligence Research University (NIRU) last week by President William Ruto has positioned Kenya as a security research and innovation hub, providing intelligence to regional and African states.

    In the very essence, intelligence is about adding value to decision making and Kenya has now opened its academic doors to education and research, positioning the country as a hub for intelligence education.

    The university, ran by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), is positioned to provide specialised training and also conduct advanced research to equip intelligence officers with the skills needed to protect both national and regional interests.

    The specialised fully-fledged university, which already has students from other African countries, readies Kenya and the continent to tackle evolving complex security dynamics, from the global terrorism threat to cyber threats and food security.

    African university

    During the charter granting ceremony held at State House last Tuesday, President Ruto said the institution is timely, noting that it will play a crucial role in filling the intelligence education and research gap in Africa and bolstering security capabilities.

    “Chartering the National Intelligence Research University is especially timely as Kenya faces complex security challenges,” Ruto said.

    He urged the institution to forge close collaboration with industry to ensure graduates are equipped to meet the country’s and regional evolving needs in fields like engineering, security, and digital innovation.

    Speaking after the award of a charter, NIRU Vice Chancellor James Kibon explained that the long journey to NIRU started with collaborations with other academic institutions.

    It began with a postgraduate diploma in security and strategic studies at the University of Nairobi in the early 2000s.

    Later, Dr Kibon said, the Service partnered with Strathmore University in offering courses starting with a Master’s Degree in Diplomacy, Intelligence and Security, the first cohort that graduated in 2019.

    While these collaborations helped meet the academic training needs of the Service (NIS) at the time, the VC says growing demand birthed a need to establish its own university.

    “There is a new melting point for diverse cultures of intelligence created in Kenya. NIRU is supporting Kenya and the continent in terms of leadership and matters of peace and security in the region,” Kibon said.

    The VC said NIRU is specific on its mandate and intends to create a research-intensive university in addition to science, technology and innovation.

    “The position of NIRU is an African university. It is in Kenya but the positioning is African to support the intelligence community. It exists to tell the African story and we are deliberate in terms of strategy,” he adds.

    Kibon says the collapse of the Berlin Wall had a profound impact on global security and rather than the threat being driven externally, it seemed to come from internal sources and new wars started emerging, intra-state rather than interstate conflicts.

    “At the time, the wind of change was sweeping and calls for accountability, particularly of the developing world democratising, intensified. Intelligence was no longer founded only on protecting the State against external aggression and there was a need for intelligence to not only recalibrate but also become more accountable,” Kibon said in the interview.

    Against this backdrop, he says, there was need to establish the National Security and Intelligence Service (NSIS), a professional intelligence organisation accountable to Kenyans – professional to the extent that it could address the emerging threats.

    Noordin Haji, the Director General of NIS and chair of the Board of Trustees of the university says the turn of the millennium necessitated the need to respond to the changing environment of threats.

    “While our efforts have invariably contributed towards the professionalisation of intelligence, sustainability remained a challenge. We embarked on a process to establish a centre of excellence in intelligence research,” Haji said during the award of the charter.

    Through Legal Notice No. 96 of June 11, 2021, the National Intelligence and Research University College was established as a constituent of the National Defence University – Kenya (NDU-K).

    Kibon said that Kenya plays a critical role in terms of ensuring peace and security and by bringing different countries, NIRU is inputting a strategic culture in the region and continent. He said that with NIRU, countries will be harmonising different cultures in terms of addressing the threats that each face and establishing strategic contacts that will go a long way in bringing leaders together of various intelligence agencies in the region. Kibon also said this is also an avenue to establish homegrown solutions for intelligence in a cost-effective environment.

    President William Ruto and James Kibon the Vice Chancellor National Intelligence and Research University when he awarded charters to the Islamic University of Kenya and National Intelligence and Research University at State House, Nairobi County on Nov 5, 2024. [PCS]

    He said the university, socialised as it is, will not admit civilians and that it will draw its students from security outfits. And before admissions, students will undergo a rigorous vetting process to secure a slot.

    The VC explains that the long journey to NIRU started with a postgraduate diploma in security and strategic studies at the University of Nairobi in early 2000s, which continued and was upgraded to a Master’s programme years later. By 2016, there was a huge backlog of students who had not graduated, yet they had completed their programmes.

    “All groups had done their Master’s but had not graduated at the University of Nairobi. An agreement was made to suspend admissions,” he recounted.

    “During this time, we saw a proliferation of intelligence studies programmes in the US, UK and other areas but in Africa, we did not have that. This conversation, therefore, came at a time when we decided to start our university,” Dr Kibon says.

    The VC says as tis was happening, it was realised that whereas there was a lot of literature in the West speaking about intelligence programmes and activities in Africa, there was no African voice.

    It all started in 2019, a technical committee to work on the establishment of a university, comprising technical experts from the industry and academicians, was formed to develop proposed programmes for the university and work on the accreditation of the university.

    One of the major outcomes of that stakeholder engagement was that officers were well trained but there was a gap at the strategic level, thus four broad areas were identified, which required development of programmes.

    The areas identified were strategic intelligence studies, intelligence, security and policy studies, strategic intelligence communication and how intelligence and technology interact. Out of these, four programmes were developed.

    The breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the process but it still continued. As this happened, the Department of Defense was in the process of starting a university, now the National Defence University of Kenya (NDU-K).

    Kibon says a decision was made at the National Security Council that only one university would be accredited, so NDU-K was picked.

    First cohort

    “NIRU became a constituent college of NDU-K.  The guidance from the National Security Council was that instead of having the two charters, we grant one institution, then the other one becomes a constituent college. So, our legal order was gazetted on June 11, 2021,” he explains. With the gazettement of the legal order as a constituent college of NDU-K, work on its structure commenced to institutionalise and implement it.

    As a constituent college, the first cohort of Masters in Strategic Intelligence Studies with 15 students was admitted in 2022. The Masters of Arts in Intelligence, Security and Policy Studies also had 15 students, all were Kenyans from the NIS.

    In 2023, the second group came in, comprising 20 students. The programmes covered were Master of Arts in Strategic Intelligence Communication and the Master of Science in Technology and Intelligence Studies. Some 11 students studied the technology programme while nine others pursued the communication programme.

    This cohort is set to graduate at the NDU-K in two week’s time.

  • Will Ruto Shield NIS Director General Noordin Haji Against DP Gachagua’s Bullying Tactics?

    Will Ruto Shield NIS Director General Noordin Haji Against DP Gachagua’s Bullying Tactics?

    In a startling turn of events, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has launched a scathing attack on the National Intelligence Service (NIS), accusing it of catastrophic failure.

    Gachagua alleges that NIS Director General Noordin Haji’s negligence directly contributed to the recent deadly protests that swept across Kenya.

    These protests, fueled by public outcry over the Finance Bill 2024, caught the government off guard, leading to loss of life and extensive property damage.

    Noordin Haji

    Can NIS Director General Noordin Haji Withstand DP Gachagua’s Pressure?

    Gachagua, known for his outspoken nature, minced no words in his criticism. He asserted that timely intelligence from NIS could have averted the crisis, preventing the need for drastic measures to quell the unrest.

    His accusations extend to questioning Haji’s leadership capabilities, implying that Haji’s tenure has been marked by incompetence.

    The Deputy President’s statements come amidst a backdrop of political tension and public scrutiny.

    With President William Ruto’s nomination of Noordin Haji as the new NIS Director General in May 2023, replacing Major-General (Rtd) Philip Wachira Kameru, expectations were high for effective intelligence operations.

    However, according to Gachagua, these hopes were dashed as NIS allegedly failed to provide crucial insights into public sentiment regarding the controversial Finance Bill.

    During a press conference in Mombasa, Gachagua highlighted reports from senior police officials who claimed they had not received adequate intelligence about the scale and intensity of the protests, suggesting a systemic breakdown within Kenya’s security apparatus.

    This failure, as Gachagua asserted, rests squarely on Haji’s shoulders, demanding accountability for the turmoil that ensued.

    President Ruto, in a significant move, later announced the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024, acknowledging the gravity of the situation and the need to appease public discontent.

    However, the spotlight remains on whether Haji will face consequences for the perceived intelligence failure.

    Political Fallout and Strategic Maneuvers

    The rift between Deputy President Gachagua and NIS Director General Haji underscores deeper political tensions within the Ruto administration.

    Gachagua’s vocal critique, while ostensibly aimed at Haji’s leadership, also hints at broader dissatisfaction within the government’s inner circles.

    By publicly calling for Haji’s resignation, Gachagua not only challenges the integrity of NIS but also questions the decision-making prowess of President Ruto, who endorsed Haji for this critical role.

    The timing of Gachagua’s accusations, immediately following President Ruto’s address to the nation regarding the Finance Bill, amplifies their impact.

    It signals discord within the administration, potentially influencing public perception of Ruto’s leadership capabilities and the efficacy of his appointed officials.

    Moreover, Gachagua’s assertions could resonate with a populace disillusioned by economic hardships and seeking accountability from their leaders.

    Following nationwide protests, Kenya faces a pivotal moment. Deputy President Gachagua’s accusations against NIS Director General Noordin Haji spark debates on leadership and intelligence effectiveness.

    The Future of Haji and Kenya’s Intelligence Landscape

    As pressure mounts on Noordin Haji to step down, the dilemma facing President Ruto is stark.

    On one hand, retaining Haji may signal a defense of his initial appointment and a commitment to stability within NIS.

    On the other hand, yielding to Gachagua’s demands could appease critics and demonstrate responsiveness to public outcry.

    The decision will not only impact Haji’s career but also carry implications for the Ruto administration’s governance trajectory.

    It poses questions about the administration’s ability to navigate internal dissent while maintaining public trust and stability.

    Ultimately, President Ruto’s response to Gachagua’s accusations will shape perceptions of his leadership style and decision-making prowess during a pivotal moment in Kenya’s political landscape.

    Conclusion

    In the aftermath of nationwide protests and political turmoil, Kenya stands at a crossroads.

    Deputy President Gachagua’s damning allegations against NIS Director General Noordin Haji have ignited a debate on leadership, accountability, and the efficacy of intelligence operations.

    As calls for Haji’s resignation reverberate through political circles, President Ruto faces a critical decision that could define his administration’s legacy.

    The outcome of this saga will not only determine Haji’s future but also influence public confidence in the Ruto administration’s ability to govern effectively amidst challenges.

    Whether Ruto chooses to shield Haji from Gachagua’s attacks or succumb to political pressure remains to be seen.

    However, one thing is certain: the ramifications of this decision will resonate far beyond the corridors of power, shaping Kenya’s political landscape for years to come.