NAIROBI, July 17 – President Mwai Kibaki was chairing a Cabinet meeting Thursday morning amid accusations of corruption in the Executive, and barely days after the Minister for Finance resigned over graft allegations.
The meeting at State House Nairobi was the first one to be held since Amos Kimunya exited the Treasury to pave way for investigations into the sale of Grand Regency Hotel to a Libyan company.
A meeting that had been called last week at the height of the controversy was put off in the last minute.
Interestingly, the whistle on the controversial sale was blown by Kimunya’s colleague in the Cabinet – Lands Minister James Orengo. The fiasco led to a public brawl between the two ministers, to the point where Kimunya accused Orengo of demanding Sh3 million to keep quiet over the saga.
Two other Cabinet Ministers have been targetted over graft claims by a group of Members of Parliament (MPs) advocating for recognition as an opposition alliance in the House.
Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is being accused of breaching the law when he was in charge of the Local Authorities docket, by gazetting excess nominated councillors contrary to recommendations of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK).
Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi issued a statement in Parliament on Wednesday, defending the proposed sale and upgrading of the Mombasa-based Kenya Oil Refineries.
Kiraitu had been targetted by Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba who sought an explanation on the involvement of an Indian and Libyan companies in the refineries’ sale.
