The CESTI project (Collaborative to Establish a Training Institute ), a U.S. State Department Bureau of Counterterrorism funded grant, was launched in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2017 to develop a Public Prosecutor Training Institute (PTI) focused on substantive counter-terrorism cases. Working closely with the Kenyan Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), LWOB established a prosecution training institute within the ODPP, enhanced the trial advocacy skills of prosecutors in complex and terrorism cases and trained a core group of prosecutors to serve as trainers for their peers.The final goal of CESTI was to improve the case management system within the ODPP for efficient and effective handling of cases.
LWOB trained 35 Kenyan prosecutors as trainers of their peers over nine programs. These Kenyan prosecutors, in turn, trained 179 prosecutors across Kenya in trial advocacy, complex evidentiary issues, and plea negotiations in the context of terrorism cases. Finally, LWOB developed a case management pilot program that will operate out of select offices within the ODPP to streamline and digitize their case management processes.
LWOB continues to work with the ODPP to provide high-quality prosecutions services, both in terrorism cases and other complex cases, such as money-laundering and human trafficking. LWOB developed 15 training modules and four cases files for the ODPP that will be used by its training institute for Kenyan-led trainings.