Leakey leaves Kenyan civil service

Richard Leakey pledged to battle corruption

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

"President [Daniel Arap] Moi said that he had agreed with Dr Leakey, 56, that he stand down," an official statement said.

Mr Leakey was appointed to the position of head of the Kenyan civil service amid much fanfare one and a half years ago.

He took charge of a so-called dream team of civil servants, mainly from the private sector, with a brief to root out those responsible for corruption and inefficiency and to restore credibility to the Kenyan administration.

His appointment was seen as a signal to the International Monetary Fund and other donors who had suspended aid because of the levels of corruption. President Moi wanted to show he was serious about cleaning Kenya up.

The man who outside Kenya is principally known as the member of a world-famous family of paleontologists was considered the figure to woo the international donors back.

Controversial

Mr Leakey enjoyed a certain amount of success, but he had started to come under strong attack from politicians who accused him in newspaper articles of arrogance and an autocratic style and of personally earning too much money.

Close colleagues noted that his relationship with President Moi appeared to have deteriorated.

But some political commentators wondered whether Mr Leakey was treading on too many important toes and whether he was carrying out his brief rather too diligently.

Now with his departure, many analysts are asking whether Mr Leakey jumped or whether he was pushed.

As for the international donors, the IMF and World Bank did resume lending last year, but funding was recently put on hold again because of what the IMF has described as serious setbacks in the fight against corruption.

Mr Leakey has been replaced by former ambassador to Britain and permanent secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sally Kosgei.