Revealed: What Govt didn’t tell you

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By Juma Kwayera

President Kibaki reappointed Mr Amos Kimunya to the Cabinet against the advise of the probe team into the controversial sale of the Grand Regency Hotel, now Laico Regency Hotel.

The Cockar Commission of Inquiry into the sale of the hotel recommended that Kimunya be held responsible for the questionable transaction.

The report, which The Standard on Saturday has exclusively obtained, was handed to President Mwai Kibaki on November 24 last year and is yet to be made public. It says the minister was economical with the truth to Parliament and the public.

In paragraph 149, it says: "The minister was not directly involved in the sale of the hotel. However, he was briefed about what CBK (Central Bank of Kenya) was doing towards the disposal of the hotel to Liaco. On 29th April 2008, he did not give Parliament and the people of Kenya the true picture on the impending sale of the hotel to Laico. As the minister responsible for the affairs of the CBK, he must take responsibility for the questionable disposal of the hotel."

The revelations come at a time when the Grand Coalition Government is desperate to douse multibillion-shilling scandals in the oil and maize sectors.

More significantly, the findings contradict an earlier version by the Party of National Unity (PNU), which exerted pressure on the President to give Kimunya back "his" slot, suggesting that the minister, who has been appointed to head the Trade docket, had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara says the President’s move is in contempt of Parliament and hinted at the possibility of another censure Motion against the minister. "The President has lent his hand to graft and his action does not augur well in the fight against impunity," he said.

The report says Central Bank of Kenya Governor, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, deliberately lied to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (Kacc), the Commissioner for Lands, the Public Procurement Oversight Authority and the Prime Minister about the sale of the hotel.

"Even the valuers who were instructed to value the hotel were not told the purpose for which the valuation was being undertaken. At CBK he (Prof Ndung’u) and [Kennedy Kaunda] Abuga were solely responsible for the disposal of the hotel," it says.

The report accuses the governor of perjury, citing Section 18 of the Public Officer Ethics Act, which bars public officials from knowingly falsifying facts. The provision the Commission cites says, "A public officer shall not knowingly give false or misleading information to members of the public or to any other public officer."

Against this backdrop, it recommends that the governor must bear the "responsibility for the disposal of the hotel in a secretive and questionable manner."

In paragraph 151, the report accuses CBK’s Legal Director and Secretary to the Board Kennedy Kaunda Abuga and the governor of acting irregularly during the disposal of the hotel, which was previously owned by businessman Kamlesh Pattni. The hotel has been at the centre of the Goldenberg scandal in which the Central Bank lost more than Sh100 billion through fictitious exports of diamonds and gold.

"Mr Kennedy Kaunda Abuga acted in concert with the Governor to rush the sale of the hotel while at the same time keeping it a close secret...."