By Ally Jamah
Lawyer Yash Pal Ghai wants the Office of the President to release findings of an inquiry into the sale of the Grand (now Laico) Regency Hotel.
This, he says, would help see if Central Bank Governor Njuguna Ndung’u was clean in the controversial deal.
In a memorandum to OP, Ghai says he wants to have a copy of the report, which was presented to President Kibaki in November 2008 by retired Chief Justice Abdul Majid Cockar.
"As the chief executive of a State organ, the Governor must be required to satisfy the integrity provision of Chapter 6 of the Constitution. I would like to know whether the commission may have found any wrongdoing on his (Governor’s) part," he said on Monday. Last month, Kibaki gave Prof Ndung’u another four years as the Central Bank of Kenya boss, but his reappointment kicked up controversy, with some leaders terming it unconstitutional.
On March 1, Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo claimed Ndung’u was accused in a tribunal report of willful falsification of information crucial in the controversial sale of the hotel in breach of the Public Officers Ethics Act.
Party to deal
"There were questions which I anticipate may be have been answered in the report, whether, in fact, procurement laws were flouted and if so, whether Ndung’u, as the Governor was party to the sale," added Ghai.
Ghai warned that if the report isn’t made public within seven days, he may sue the Government for blocking access to public information as enshrined in the Constitution.
"I am requesting this report on the basis of clause (3) of Article 35. This imposes upon the State the obligation to "publish and publicise important information," he said. The commission of inquiry was appointed in July 2008 and was led by Cockar.
It was to inquire into the circumstances leading to the sale of the Grand Regency Hotel and the role played by then Minister for Finance, the CBK Governor among others.
"The release of the report will also be in line with the constitutional requirement of transparency and accountability," he added.
