|
|
Kenya: I Was Kept in the Dark, Says Raila
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Nation (Nairobi)
9 July 2008
Posted to the web 9 July 2008
Nairobi
Prime Minister Raila Odinga was kept in the dark on crucial information and transactions that led to the controversial sale of the Grand Regency Hotel.
Mr Odinga told Parliament that the Central Bank of Kenya informed him of the transaction when the deal had been sealed while the anti-graft commission failed to submit all the information he had requested.
Giving his side of the story on the scandal that has forced Finance minister Amos Kimunya to step aside pending investigations, the PM assured Kenyans that the truth of the matter will be unearthed.
However, Mr Odinga, Lands minister James Orengo, Attorney General Amos Wako and Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission boss Aaron Ringera were urged to take a cue from Mr Kimunya to ensure that investigations were impartial.
Unsigned document
The PM submitted that on April 23, CBK governor Njuguna Ndung'u came to his office and presented an eight-page undated and unsigned document on the sale of the hotel.
"The governor presented me with an eight-page, undated, unsigned, typed document which purported to give some background to the Central Bank's involvement with Kamlesh Pattni and the case of the Grand Regency Hotel, in which the Bank had a charge over the land and buildings," he said as he tabled the document.
The document, he said, showed that the CBK board had held a meeting on April 7 where it was noted that the Libyan African Investments Company had agreed to buy the hotel as a going concern at market value.
High level consultations to reach that decision, it was noted in the document, had already been held and the hotel was to be sold at Sh2.9 billion ($45 million).
"The governor told me a deal had in fact been concluded on 23rd April with the Libyan investors, who had paid 10 per cent of the purchase price of US$45 million but the deposit was not made until the 8th of May," he said.
However, he said that six days later when Mr Kimunya told Parliament that the hotel had not been sold, he sensed that something was going on behind his back. "The Finance minister, on his part, told Parliament that the hotel had not been sold on 29th April. He informed the public that the hotel would be sold through public auction," he said.
Mr Odinga said that he had on April 25 directed his staff to seek clarification from Justice (Rtd) Ringera on the status of the receivership accounts of the hotel, status of the pending civil suits filed by KACC against Mr Pattni, surrender and transfer documents, consent orders, transaction documents and any other related documents. The letter was copied to the attorney general, the Finance minister, Governor of the Central Bank and to the Head of the Civil Service.
The response came on June 12 in which Justice (Rtd) Ringera stated that the hotel had been recovered from Mr Pattni and handed over to CBK.
"The KACC however did not furnish me with all the documents as per my request of 25th April," he said.
The PM said the revelation by Mr Orengo on June 25 that the hotel had been sold and the subsequent admission by Mr Kimunya two days later prompted him to convene a meeting of the Cabinet committee on Finance, Administration and Planning.
"At the meeting held on 1st July, the Cabinet committee constituted a technical sub-committee with the mandate to collect and review all available documents and records relating to the Grand Regency Hotel. The committee reported back the same evening and by that time, this House had carried the motion of "no confidence" in the minister of Finance," he said.
Seeking clarification from the PM, Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale (New Ford-K), wanted to know the identity of the holders of a New York account to which 10 per cent of the payment for the hotel was wired.
"Subsequent payments were made to accounts in NIC Bank in Nairobi. Who are the holders of these accounts?" he asked.
Dr Khalwale also challenged Mr Odinga to step aside.
Similar sentiments were echoed by MPs Cyrus Jirongo (Lugari, Kaddu) and Elias Mbau (Maragwa, PNU) who demanded that Mr Odinga should resign.
MPs Gitobu Imanyara (Imenti Central, CCU) and Ntoitha M'Mithiaru (Igembe North, PNU) challenged Mr Kimunya to apologise for giving wrong information to the Finance committee.
Speaker Kenneth Marende directed the Finance committee to present a report to the House in two weeks' time.
|
Reports by Bernard Namunane, Owino Opondo and Odhiambo Orlale
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
