MPs’ fury over Kimunya return

The government is headed for a showdown with MPs who disavowed former Finance minister Amos Kimunya who has been reinstated to the Cabinet as Trade minister.

MPs are digging in for a fight in Parliament as it has emerged that Mr Kimunya came under serious criticism by the Cockar Commission over the sale of the Grand Regency (now Laico Regency) hotel.

The Sunday Nation has seen the report, yet to be made public, in which the commissioners recommend that Mr Kimunya take responsibility for the controversial sale of the hotel.

All indications are that MPs are not willing to let their no confidence vote last year go to waste following Mr Kimunya’s return to the Cabinet last Friday.

A no-confidence vote against an MP or a negative report from a commission of inquiry are not binding on the President when making Cabinet appointments.

A number of MPs interviewed by the Sunday Nation indicated that they would ask House Speaker Kenneth Marende to block the minister from accessing the floor of the House in his new capacity. Mr Kimunya left the Treasury in acrimonious circumstances last year following the no-confidence vote.

On Saturday the MPs said they lost confidence in Mr Kimunya’s conduct of affairs at the Treasury and would not allow him to take up the new post. Lawyers also shared these sentiments and said President Kibaki had acted in contempt of Parliament and the public.

Mr Kimunya kept a low profile and could not be reached when we attempted to contact him. A message left on his cell phone voice box had not been returned by the time we went to press last night.

“By returning Kimunya to the Cabinet in cynical disregard for Parliament, public sentiment and prudent counsel, Kibaki has enacted the scene for an intriguing duel pitting executive insolence against parliamentary authority and popular will,” ODM parliamentary group secretary Ababu Namwamba said.

But assistant minister Mwangi Kiunjuri supported Mr Kimunya’s reappointment to the Cabinet while calling for the sacking of leaders implicated in corruption so that Kenyans can have faith in the Grand Coalition government.

100 per cent clean

“There is no politician who can claim to be 100 per cent clean, and Kenyans would not have been satisfied regardless of whoever could have been appointed in Mr Kimunya’s position. The best thing is to let the Trade minister do his work since he was not directly implicated in the scandal (Grand Regency saga),” he said.

The Laikipia East MP asked the relevant institutions empowered to fight graft to act fast and bring the culprits to book.

Mr Kiunjuri said Kenyans were getting disillusioned with the government’s lack of commitment to fight corruption following revelations that some of his colleagues were implicated in maize and oil scandals.

“We have only been hearing threats from Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and the Attorney-General that corrupt individuals will be arraigned in court, but we are yet to see any action,” said the leader of Grand National Union party.

He added that now that ministers from both the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Party of National Unity (PNU) are under suspicion of taking part in shoddy deals, they should be fired and prosecuted.

“As leaders we should own up to our actions, and this is the only way that we shall redeem the image of the coalition government which continues to be dented day after day,” the MP said.
Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee chairman and Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale said Mr Kimunya’s return to the Cabinet was a blow to the war against graft in the government.

Mr Khalwale, who moved the no-confidence motion against Mr Kimunya, said it was a big mistake for the President to reinstate the minister before Parliament had discussed the Okemo report.

“It is also absurd that President Kibaki decided to appoint Mr Kimunya back to the Cabinet even before the report of the Cockar Commission of Inquiry into the sale of the former Grand Regency hotel is made public,” he said.

The report was tabled in Parliament but not discussed before Parliament adjourned for the holidays.

Musical chairs

“What has happened now is a game of musical chairs,” he said. “The public should not expect any end to the plethora of scandals that are going on in the government.”

Mr Khalwale said MPs in the self-styled grand opposition would meet to consider three scenarios: whether to cooperate with government, to work to shoot down government business in Parliament or to petition the Speaker to rule on the authority of the House vis-a-vis the Executive.

Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara said MPs would ask the Speaker to assert the authority of Parliament.

“Mr Kimunya lost the confidence of the House over the manner in which he handled the sale of the Grand Regency hotel, and we will ask the Speaker to protect the integrity of Parliament,” Mr Imanyara told the Sunday Nation.

He said it was surprising that the President had chosen to move against the wishes of Parliament of which he is a member. He said the situation was also aggravated by the President’s failure to make public the findings of the Cockar commission that investigated the hotel sale.

Mr Kimunya resigned from the Finance portfolio after Parliament passed a vote of no confidence in him last year.

A report by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Trade and Planning chaired by Nambale MP Chris Okemo urged the President not to reappoint Mr Kimunya.

“The committee recommends to the appointing authority (the President) that he be advised that the conduct of Amos Kimunya is not compatible with that of a minister,” the report read in part.

The Kipipiri MP was accused of having told the committee on May 21 that the hotel had not been sold when evidence showed that the Libyan Africa Investment Company had paid Sh290 million -- 10 per cent of the total cost of Sh2.9 billion -- on May 8.

Although he was indicted by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance following the controversial sale of the hotel, Mr Kimunya will have to face the same MPs who forced his ouster, but this time in a different docket.

The return of Mr Kimunya to the Cabinet comes at a time when the government is faced with two multi-billion-shilling scandals in the food and oil sectors. The two are said to have cost the country over Sh8 billion.

Former Kabete MP and lawyer Paul Muite called on Parliament to assert its authority by blocking the move by President Kibaki to permit the minister to transact government business in Parliament.

Abuse of office

“The President has treated Kenyans with contempt and arrogance which can also be interpreted to be abuse of office. He appointed a commission to investigate the saga using taxpayers’ money, and yet he has refused to make the findings public,” said Mr Muite.

Eldama Ravine MP Musa Lessonnet (ODM) said the move was a gesture by the coalition government to disregard good governance.

“There are many people in President Kibaki’s own wing who are not tainted and are equally qualified ... let’s see how Mr Kimunya pulls through in Parliament,” Mr Lessonnet said.

However, Molo MP Joseph Kiuna defended Mr Kimunya’s reappointment, arguing that the President and the PM could not have given him back his job if he were guilty.

“The President and the Prime Minister must have read the report and concluded that there was no reason for him not to be a minister,” Mr Kiuna told the Sunday Nation.

Mr Otiende Amolo, a council member of the Law Society of Kenya, said the appointment was a signal that there is no commitment from the government in the fight against corruption.

Mr Amolo said there was a “clear contradiction” between what the Cockar report said and what President Kibaki has done.

The lawyer noted that if there was a confidence issue in Mr Kimunya, then President Kibaki should have given the Finance docket back to him.

Florence Jacko, chair of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission, said Mr Kimunya’s re-appointment was “unfair to Kenyans” when the contents of the Cockar report remained secret.

Ms Jaoko said pertinent questions regarding the role of Mr Kimunya in the sale have not been answered, yet the President brought him back. “How does Mr Kimunya explain his resignation and his re-appointment ... in governance, this is just very wrong,” she said.

These views were shared by the chief executive of the National Convention Executive Council (NCEC) Cyprian Nyamwamu. “These two no longer care, they have flagrantly disregarded the wishes of the people to fight corruption and end impunity,” he said. “They must be held responsible. It is not Mr Kimunya’s mistake to have been be appointed.”

The NCEC boss criticised the coalition government for acting “as if it was elected” yet it was a “ just settlement to implement the National Accord.”
Additional reporting by Kenneth Ogosia and John Shilitsa