The office is empowered with the authority to exercise the State's powers of prosecution with regard to criminal proceedings.
The ODPP is officially headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who is nominated, and with the approval of the National Assembly, appointed by the President of Kenya.
The mandate of ODPP as derived from Article 157 of the Constitution is to institute and to undertake the prosecution of criminal matters and all other related incidents.
The core functions of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) include prosecution of those charged by the police and other investigative agencies with criminal offences while upholding, protecting and promoting human and constitutional rights.
The nature of complaints handled by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions are as follows: The first holder of the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions under the 2010 Constitution was Keriako Tobiko who served from 2011 before resigning in 2018 when he was appointed as the cabinet Secretary for the ministry of environment and natural resources.