Kenyan MPs call for fresh sacking

Moody Awori is one of four ministers allegedly linked to Anglo Leasing

More than 80 Kenyan MPs have urged President Mwai Kibaki to sack his vice-president over alleged links to a corruption scandal.

Moody Awori was named in a report by the country's former corruption chief in connection with what has become known as the Anglo Leasing affair.

On Monday Kenya's energy minister stood down amid allegations he was involved.

Kiraitu Murungi says he is innocent. He is one of three ministers to resign amid growing corruption allegations.

'Systematically accused'

The MPs demanding Mr Awori's sacking also threatened to stage mass demonstrations later this week unless parliament is recalled to discuss the allegations.

Parliament has been in recess since December.

The media has made me the most vilified and hunted person in Kenya Kiraitu Murungi Former Energy Minister

The MPs made their demands as Mr Murungi launched a defence of his reputation.

He was allegedly caught on tape asking former anti-corruption chief John Githongo to slow down his investigations.

However on Tuesday he denied the allegations and said he had not received a fair hearing.

"I've been systematically accused, prosecuted and condemned by media without hearing the due process of the law," he said.

He said he hoped for a "speedy conclusion" to the affair so that he could clear his name, he added.

Separate scandal

Earlier on Tuesday, Kenyan police ordered 20 senior politicians and officials not to leave the country until investigations were concluded.

They are implicated in a second scandal, the so-called "Goldenberg" affair, in which millions of dollars were paid for non-existent exports of gold and diamonds.

President Kibaki has urged Kenyans to be patient

President Mwai Kibaki was elected in 2002 on a pledge to fight the corruption which had characterised the previous administration of Daniel arap Moi, who was in power during the Goldenberg affair.

The other minister who resigned on Monday, George Saitoti, who quit as education minister, was implicated in the Goldenberg affair and was among those ordered to surrender his passport.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the head of Kenya's human rights commission, Maini Kiai, said that ministerial resignations were not evidence of a real clampdown on corruption.

"I think it is very important that this country and the people of this country maintain sustained pressure on the office of the attorney general to ensure we have credible and effective prosecutions," he said.

Mr Githongo has accused the president of doing nothing over the Anglo Leasing scam, which involved hundreds of millions of dollars of government contracts being awarded to a phantom firm.

An official government report on the Goldenberg affair was handed to Mr Kibaki last week, who has urged Kenyans to be patient while the investigations continue.