The political career of Finance minister Amos Kimunya was yesterday left hanging in the balance as Parliament passed a motion of no-confidence against him last evening.

Mr Kimunya was on the spot over his handling of the transfer of the Grand Regency Hotel to Libyan investors. In an unprecedented move, Government ministers balked on collective responsibility in favour of striking a blow against perceived corruption.

This now puts pressure on President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to relieve Mr Kimunya of the Finance portfolio unless he opts to quit. It will be hard for Mr Kimunya to continue serving in the Finance portfolio since Parliament will not recognise any business presented by him in the House.

Grand coalition

The National Reconciliation Act that gave birth to the Grand Coalition government says that a Cabinet minister can only be removed through consensus between the two.

The debate took place as a five-member Cabinet committee was named by the Prime Minister to investigate the sale of the hotel, built from the proceeds of the Goldenberg scandal some 15 years ago.

Yesterday's motion was moved by Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale and sought to push Mr Kimunya out of office on a day that the Cabinet committee selected by the PM to investigate the sale completed its findings which had not been made public.

Attempts by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, who is also the Leader of Government Business in Parliament, to block debate on the motion failed.

The motion was passed as a five-member Cabinet committee met President Kibaki at Harambee House.

The report by the team headed by Attorney-General Amos Wako is expected to dominate discussions during today's Cabinet meeting to be chaired by President Kibaki.

Mr Kimunya, who has been condemned by among others his Cabinet colleagues said last week that the hotel was sold for Sh2.9 billion. But local analysts valued the hotel at least Sh4.5 billion.

Lands Minister James Orengo - who blew the whistle over the secretive sale last Thursday - has since said the hotel was in fact sold at Sh1.8 billion.

Mr Kimunya said the difference in the sale price was caused by currency fluctuations over the last one month.

"I instructed CBK to sell the property in May at a cost of 45 million dollars which translated to Sh3.3 billion but now the same translates to Sh3.9 billion," he said.

This means that key fiscal and monetary motions due for discussion in the House could be delayed, throwing the implementation of the Budget that won praise as Mr Kimunya's best, into jeopardy.The Grand Regency deal which has a triggered national outrage has added to suspicions of continued high-level corruption for years.

Political analysts said the saga is the biggest test of unity yet for the Government, which was formed in April on the platform of among other things eradicating graft.

There are concerns that several key Bills scheduled to be tabled in the House by the Ministry of Finance seeking parliamentary support could backfire, with disgruntled government back-benchers and MPs backing the formation of Grand Opposition threatening to boycott debate, until the minister quits.

Mr Musyoka wanted the motion adjourned until today afternoon.

"The Government needs time to prepare a response drawn from the findings of Wako committee so that we can deal with the matter at hand from a point of knowledge, "said Mr Kalonzo.

The motion had sought to censure Mr Kimunya over the way he handled the sale of State shares at Safaricom in the just concluded Sh50 billion Initial Public Offering as well as the controversial sale of the hotel.

"The sale of the hotel was done in disregard of provisions of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act and other related regulations and of the Privatization Act in the sale of Safaricom shares, "said Mr Khalwale.

While responding to the motion, Mr Kimunya --who defended all his policy actions at Treasury --said he was 'clean and the deals were carried in the interest of Kenyans'.

"On Safaricom, we carried all due diligence, at no one time did I benefit from anything or withhold any information from the public," Mr Kimunya told Parliament.

The controversy has also drawn into it Central Bank governor, Prof Njuguna Ndung'u, who Mr Orengo claimed had signed the agreement sealing the sale.

Several MPs also called for his removal from CBK.

The introduction of the motion--which for Mr Kimunya underscores the dark side of Kenyan politics-- rekindles memories of 1989 when former Embakasi MP David Mwenje and little known mechanic Kuria Kanyingi introduced a vote of no-confidence in Vice-President Josphat Njuguna Karanja.

Mr Karanja was forced to resign rather than face the motion for demanding that politicians kneel before him.

In October 1964, a motion by Mr Masinde Muliro, Kadu's deputy leader, seeking to pass a vote of no-confidence in then Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta, was defeated in the Parliament.

Ford Kenya Chairman Musikari Kombo also gave a motion in Parliament seeking to stop the sale of the hotel and any other property linked to the Goldenberg scandal.

Several ministers and assistant ministers supported the motion saying Mr Kimunya should step aside to pave way for investigations.