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Kenya
hotel probe recommends finance minister go |
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 (July
4,2008) NAIROBI - A Kenyan government report
into the secretive sale of a luxury Nairobi hotel has recommended
the finance minister and central bank governor step down to allow
a full investigation into the "fraudulent" transaction.
The report, from a five-member team led by Attorney General Amos Wako,
followed a no-confidence vote by Kenya's parliament against Finance
Minister Amos Kimunya.
Anti-graft watchdogs and some ministers have slammed the sale of the
Grand Regency to a group of investors, including Kenyans and Libyans,
as the latest example of high-level corruption in east Africa's largest
economy.
The dispute has also deepened tensions in factions of Kenya's already
fragile coalition government, trying to keep the peace after a bloody
post-election dispute earlier this year.
The 41-member cabinet is Kenya's largest and costliest. Prime Minister
Raila Odinga called ministers of the cabinet's finance committee together
on Thursday to further discuss the fast-moving controversy that is
filling Kenya's front pages and provoking outrage among its people.
Odinga said he had no indication Kimunya was on the verge of resigning.
"He remains minister until otherwise announced."
The prime minister added, however, that the government would deal
"very, very effectively" with any cases of misuse of public
funds. "Any kind of breach is not going to be tolerated."
The Wako-led report recommended that Kimunya and Central Bank Governor
Njuguna Ndung'u step down over a deal that was "false, fraudulent
and designed to deceive," according to a version read to Reuters
by an aide to the team.
Kimunya, who said the hotel went for 2.9 billion shillings ($45 million)
last week, told parliament on Wednesday "my hands are totally
clean". But critics say he sold the government asset in secret
at a knockdown price.
Analysts have estimated the value of the multi-storey hotel in downtown
Nairobi at around 4.5-6.0 billon shillings. |
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