The chairman of Kenya's anti-corruption commission resigned Wednesday as MPs prepared to investigate him for alleged links to a corruption scandal at the country's National Youth Service. Philip Kinisu, chairman of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) responsible for investigating national graft, resigned a day after lawmakers approved a parliamentary recommendation to investigate him.
The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee had recommended that a tribunal be formed to investigate possible conflict of interest over a family company that won government contracts from institutions under EACC investigation. Kinisu's resignation means he is unlikely to be probed. In a statement, Kinisu maintained his innocence saying that his continued chairmanship was "impractical" and that he was only resigning so the EACC would not be distracted by, or waste resources on, his case. "There has been extensive adverse reporting of matters related to me and a business owned by my family," he said.