Kenyans have reportedly described as redundant President Mwai Kibaki's naming of a commission of inquiry to investigate the scandal associated with the sale of the Regency Hotel. The commission of inquiry brings to four the number of different groups within Kenya's government that are investigating the ongoing scandal. Some Kenyans have reportedly said they don't know which group to believe, as there seems to be a lack of trust among members of the coalition government. The hotel scandal led to the temporary resignation of Finance Minister Amos Kimunya. Emmanuel Jummah is a Kenyan political analyst. He tells reporter Peter Clottey from the capital, Nairobi that Kenyans are confused about the myriad of investigations into the hotel scandal.
"Largely, this was expected. I think when the (finance) minister was announcing that he was stepping down he seemed to be indicating that he expected the president to name this commission. But then what this does now is it raises the number of bodies that are investigating this one crime to four. Now, we have this commission put together by the president, expected to report in about a month's time. What this means then is that we now seem to have a conflict, and now there is of course this question of separation of powers between the legislative and judicial arms of government," Jummah noted.
He said there seems to be lack of coordination among cabinet members within the coalition government.
"Even the cabinet seems to have problems because here is a prime minister who is ordering an investigation on one side, and here is the president also ordering another investigation. Most people are now asking when they all come out, which one do we believe and which one we don't believe and it is just confusing. And that shows you that there seems to be a lack of coordination within the government itself," he said.
Jummah said the ongoing investigations all seem to be riddled with political undertones.
"What is going to happen is that it is going to turn into a political battle once more. If the commission put together by the president comes up and says look the chap is innocent, there are those who may say that that was just a window dressing measure that was meant to cleanse the guy and bring him back perhaps into a position of power. And if the other side comes up and says look the chap is guilty, the guys who support him would say these were just the guys who wanted this guy out anyway and they were out to do everything to unsure that he was found guilty," Jummah pointed out.
He said it was unlikely the truth of the hotel scandal would come out of the many ongoing investigations.
"So, from what I see really I don't see the whole truth coming out as a result of these many, many myriad of bodies investigating one crime. I think it is a joke really if you were to ask me," he said.
Jummah said some Kenyans are confused about what's going on with the hotel saga.
"As usual, we are left there wondering and confused as usual that the politicians are just happy to be taking us round in circles. If you look at this matter and you clearly see that whereas there was something wrong that was committed. But at the end of the day I sometimes get the feeling that now the guys are just playing politics, and they just want to see who would come up on top, and who is tougher than the other. And they are now playing games with a matter that was supposed to have been treated a little bit more seriously than it is being treated right now," Jummah noted.
He said the media can be helpful in exposing what is going on, adding that an international independent commission can help in ascertaining the truth of the hotel saga.
"Maybe it us in the media who really should take it up and really just tell the public what seems to be going on so that they can be able to make up their mind," he said.
