Kenya may sack 'corrupt' MP

2008-07-03 08:40

Nairobi - The Kenyan parliament on Wednesday passed a motion of no confidence against Finance Minister Amos Kimunya over accusations of corruption in the sale of a luxury hotel.

Kimunya's ouster from parliament, expected to be followed by his official sacking or resignation from government, was the biggest blow to the coalition cabinet formed in late April in the aftermath of Kenya's election chaos.

The motion against Kimunya, a member of President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity, was overwhelmingly approved by acclamation.

Kimunya, 46, was accused by his critics of having undervalued Nairobi's Grand Regency hotel in a sale conducted by the government last month, sparking national outrage.

The luxury hotel was last month sold by the government to a group of investors for a sum one cabinet minister mocked as not even covering the cost of furniture.

'My hands are totally clean'

Some government documents suggested that the hotel was sold for 1.8 billion shillings ($28m) but Kimunya maintained during his defence in parliament that it was sold for 2.95 billion shillings.

The minister insisted the sale of the hotel was conducted in the interest of Kenyans. "My hands are totally clean on this transaction," he told members of Parliament.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, under pressure to crack the whip, said a team was finalising its investigations and a cabinet meeting on Thursday would decide on Kimunya's fate.

"The government will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of the matter. The cabinet will deliberate on it and make a decision, which will be made public in the course of the day tomorrow," Odinga said.

The scandal had sparked public outrage and the hotel came to symbolise the perpetuation of high-level corruption, which had been one of the main grievances in electoral campaigns.

MP's scandal-tainted exit

On Tuesday, hundreds of Kenyans, led by several members of parliament, took to the streets to protest the deal and demanded Kimunya - who had been in charge of East Africa's largest economy since 2006 - resign.

The whiff of scandal surrounding the transaction was enhanced by the fact that the same hotel was recovered in April by the central bank as part of the settlement of one of Kenya's defining corruption cases.

The hotel had been owned by business tycoon Kamlesh Pattni, a central figure in the Goldenberg scandal that dealt a lasting blow to Kenya's economy.

Pattni was accused of siphoning off about one billion dollars from the Central Bank of Kenya in the 1990s under a compensation scheme for export of non-existent gold and diamonds.

Commentators had already predicted that the scandal-tainted exit of a member of Kibaki's inner circle could shake up the fragile government coalition formed on February 28.

In the December 27 general election, then opposition leader and pre-poll frontrunner Raila Odinga accused Kibaki of rigging his way to re-election.

- AFP