A Kenyan government report has cleared the president and a cabinet colleague of the murder in 1990 of the foreign minister, Robert Ouko.

Mr Ouko's charred body was discovered in western Kenya and prompted a political crisis in the run-up to elections in 1992.

The Minister of Industry, Yekoyada Masakhalia, said allegations made against President Moi and the Minister for Co-operation, Nicholas Biwott, were false and malicious.

British detectives from Scotland Yard implicated Mr Biwott and an internal security chief -- now dead -- in the murder.

Mr Ouko was alleged to have had evidence that Mr Biwott behaved corruptly in the award of a molasses contract.