" On April 23 this year I received a telephone call from the Governor of the Central Bank who told me that there was something he wished to share with me as Prime Minister, concerning adverse stories appearing in the media. I met him in my office the same evening." 

He said that Governor Ndung'u presented him with an eight-page, undated, unsigned, typed document that purported to give a background to the Central Bank's historical involvement with businessman Kamlesh Pattni and the case of the Grand Regency hotel, in which the Bank had a charge over the land and buildings. The document he said, indicated that the Bank had held a Board Meeting on April 7, 2008, to chart the way forward.

" It stated that the Libyan government was "very eager to have a foothold in the hotel industry" and that "consultations have been ongoing, at the highest levels of the two governments, where it has been agreed that Libyan investors be encouraged to purchase the Grand Regency hotel when the opportunity arises".

It continued,

" The investors had agreed to buy the hotel as a going concern and at market value."

and that

" The Governor told me a deal had in fact been concluded on the 23^rd April with the Libyan investors, who had paid 10 per cent of the purchase price of US$45 million but the deposit was not made until 8^th May.  This was the narrative according to the Governor of the Central Bank."

Raila was responding to Kipipiri MP and former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya's adamant assertion that the deal was out in the open and that the Prime Minister among others was made fully aware of it. The ODM head added that as soon as he foundout about the trade through the media, he informed the Anti-Corruption Commission in writing but only received a reply in June.

" I then began reading in the media often contradictory statements. Because of this, on 25^th April 25, two days after my meeting with the Governor of the Central Bank, I directed my Chief of Staff, to write to the Director-General of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission.

 In this letter, I requested information on or sight of:  

• • the status of the receivership accounts relating to the hotel;
  • the status of pending civil suits filed by the Commission against Pattni and his co-defendants;
  • the surrender and transfer documents;
  • the consent orders/extracted orders as might have been made;
  • the counsel who advised on and prepared the transactional documents;
  • the breakdown of the transaction costs;
  • how the transaction had been or was being handled in the context of the Privatisation Act; and
  • all other relevant documents, including correspondence exchanged over the transaction.

The letter he says was copied to the Attorney-General, the Finance Minister , the Governor of the Central Bank, and the Head of the Civil Service.The Lang'ata MP confirmed that experts would be retained for the purpose of investigating the transaction even as he dismissed calls that he too ought to resign pending the completion of investigations.