Banker 'innocent'

NAIROBI (Reuter) - Kenya's central bank governor, who resigned after the government launched an inquiry into the operations of the institution, said yesterday that he was not responsible for bad management. 'The impression that I was sacked due to some misconduct or that I may be associated with some malpractices committed in some commercial banks or by some individuals within the central bank is false and unfair,' Eric Kotut said.

Kenya, under pressure from Western donor agencies and countries to clean up its financial sector, replaced Mr Kotut on Friday with Micah Cheserem, a little-known accountant. Finance Minister Musalia Mudavadi said he had launched 'intensive investigations' into the bank's operations after an independent team of auditors revealed extensive irregularities.