Kenya

Finance Minister Amos Kimunya resigns over corruption charges

Article published on the 2008-07-08 Latest update 2008-07-08 16:40 TU

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga

Kenyan Finance Minister Amos Kimunya has resigned over suspicion of corruption in the sale of a luxury Nairobi hotel. He is accused of having undervalued Nairobi's Grand Regency hotel when it was sold by the government to a Libyan firm for a sum that one cabinet minister described as "not even covering the cost of furniture".

If President Mwai Kibaki, a close ally, accepts his resignation, this could deal a major blow to the coalition cabinet formed earlier this year in a bid to restore national unity.

Kimunya quit on Tuesday, two days after he told a rally in central Kenya that he would "rather die than resign."

Prime Minister Raila Odinga commended Kimunya for resigning in order to facilitate the inquiry, but vowed to push for a comprehensive probe.

"We are going to carry out a very intensive and effective investigation so that we can bring a speedy conclusion to this matter," he told Parliament.

Kimunya already suffered a political crisis in Parliament last week when he received a vote of no confidence. He was expected to either resign or be sacked from the cabinet.

Government documents that were leaked indicate that the luxury hotel was sold to Libya for 18 million euros, but Kimunya maintained that it was sold for 29 million euros.