On Sunday, lawyers joined in the condemnation and questioned the government's commitment to implement the recommendations of the report, which have remained secret three months after it was handed over to President Kibaki.
The Law Society of Kenya vice-chairman, Mr James Aggrey Mwamu, termed Mr Kimunya's appointment to the Trade docket in bad taste saying it was likely to dent the government's image.
By making this move, the President has just confirmed that he has no intention of implementing this report… that is why he kept it under lock and key for such a long time, Mr Mwamu on telephone said.
According to the Cockar Commission report, Mr Kimunya should have been solely responsible for the sale of the hotel to the Libyan Arab Investment Company (Laico) as the minister in charge of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
The report heavily indicted CBK Governor Njuguna Ndung'u and the board secretary, Mr Kennedy Abuga for rushing the sale of the hotel, while keeping it secret.
Mr Kimunya is said to have misled Parliament by saying the hotel had not been sold, while CBK had quietly been negotiating its sale with the Libyans.
Utmost contempt
On Sunday, Mr Mwamu said that the executive arm of government was showing utmost contempt' for Parliament, which had censured Mr Kimunya, the Kipipiri MP, for misleading the House.
Elsewhere, a National Labour Party official on Sunday called on President Kibaki to resign for re-appointing Mr Kimunya to the cabinet. Mr Kennedy Kiliku, who is the party's chairman, said that, by re-appointing Mr Kimunya, the President had proved to Kenyans that he was not committed to fighting corruption.
Speaking at Chetna Restaurant in Mombasa, Mr Kiliku called on MPs to reject Mr Kimunya when he returns to Parliament as a Cabinet minister by passing a vote of no confidence against him.
The government has failed miserably in combating corruption and therefore the President has to resign for not having fulfilled his pledge to root out the menace, said Mr Kiliku.
At the same time, the NLP boss urged MPs to set aside other motions in the House and address the issue of teachers' pay increase demand and famine. He said the famine was being complicated by some leaders in the government.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua on Sunday accused top leaders of condoning corruption. She said lack of good governance had led to runaway corruption involving top government officials.
We need to streamline the rules to get rid of the deep-seated corruption, said the Gichugu MP. Speaking at Kaelo Methodist Church during a funeral service for her constituency's CDF manager, Mr Isaac Gitonga Mitu on Saturday, Ms Karua fell short of blaming President Kibaki, only saying that she hoped to straighten things out when he retires and she is elected president in 2012.
Daily Nation