* Parliament report had called for Mwangi's resignation
* Kenyan media cast case as another corruption scandal
NAIROBI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A top government official in Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stepped aside on Wednesday pending an investigation into a scam involving deals to purchase foreign embassy buildings, the president's office said.
President Mwai Kibaki accepted a request by Thuita Mwangi to step aside as permanent secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs, the statement said.
The move comes before a possible vote in parliament on a report that recommends the removal from office of Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula, as well as Mwangi, who were cited as being responsible for the botched embassy deals.
The report recommends that Wetangula, Mwangi and other officials quit their positions and stand trial for the loss of $14 million in a deal to buy a new embassy in Japan. [ID:nLDE69P29B]
Kenyan media have cast the case as yet another scandal involving top government officials in a country where corruption is viewed as endemic and one of the most pressing concerns that is choking investment in east Africa's biggest economy.
The Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations report prompted heated debate in parliament on Tuesday, but a vote on whether Wetangula and Mwangi should be forced to go did not take place because the assembly ran out of time.
Officials said the debate would resume on Wednesday.
(Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Richard Lough and Michael Roddy)
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