Leakey quits Kenya's civil service

The government in Kenya says the head of the country's civil service, Richard Leakey, has resigned, saying he had completed his task of launching efficiency reforms.

Mr Leakey said soon after being appointed to the job twenty-months ago that he would work to end widespread corruption, inefficiency and nepotism.

At times a controversial figure in Kenya, he served several times as the head of the Wildlife Service and was a founder member of the Safina party, which opposed President Daniel arap Moi's Kenya African National Union party in elections in 1992 and 1997. Mr Leakey has been replaced by former ambassador to Britain and permanent secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sally Kosgei.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service