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Kenyan president suspends senior officials over graft

Xinhua, March 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday suspended cabinet secretaries and other senior government officials implicated in the anti-graft agency report for having been involved in corruption.

Kenyatta also directed that principal secretaries and state- owned institution heads to also vacate the office pending investigating into their corrupt practices.

State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu told journalists in Nairobi that the president has appointed other cabinet secretaries to oversee the dockets of the suspended cabinet secretaries as they are investigated.

"Cabinet secretaries have now informed the president that they have complied with his directive. The president has consequently appointed acting cabinet secretaries in their place," Esipisu said.

"The president reminds Kenyans, that this is a moral fight for the very soul of our nation and that nobody should use it as an opportunity to either engage in negative politics or act in manner likely to detract us from this noble cause," Esipisu said.

The suspended cabinet secretaries include Felix Koskei for Agriculture, Davis Chirchir for Energy, Michael Kamau for Transport, and Kazungu Kambi for Labor.

"As the president told parliament, it is not his place to determine the guilt or otherwise of the State or Public Officers named in the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Report, but that the time has come to send a strong signal to the country," Esipisu added.

The Kenyan leader has warned that there would be no sacred cows and that this is just the beginning of an unwavering war against corruption.

On Thursday, Kenyatta spoke boldly in parliament against corruption, which he acknowledged as one of the biggest obstacles to the shared vision of security, growth and prosperity.

Esipisu said every constitutional office holder, state officer and public servant, is bound by the values enshrined in the constitution.

"These officers are required to uphold the highest standards of personal integrity in the discharge of their official functions," he said. Endi