Last Tuesday’s post discussed the scandal surrounding the sale of the Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi for less than one third of its supposed value in a dealing which was kept secret from the relevant minister. The Kenyan Finance Minister Amos Kimunya seems to have orchestrated the deal, and it is widely suspected that some type of corruption was involved. At the very least, Mr Kimunya seems to have been guilty of failing to act transparently and misleading parliament.
The Kenyan parliament passed a motion of no-confidence in Mr Kimunya last week, and he was the subject of adverse findings in a Cabinet sub-committee report on the Grand Regency deal. In other countries this would have been sufficient to force his resignation or sacking, but in Kenya the dynamics are somewhat different. The distribution of power seems to be a more pressing issue for Kenya than does dealing with corruption.
The violence following the recent disputed elections was resolved by the establishment of a Grand Coalition Cabinet, in which there was a finely distributed balance of power. Any action which results in upsetting that balance may threaten the uneasy peace accord. Nearly everyone who is a member of the Grand Coalition believes that other members of the Grand Coalition were guilty of dishonest conduct during or after the last elections. This makes it harder for them to agree to take firm action against any new cases of dishonest conduct.