Kenya's attorney general eyes action against US

By David Clarke

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's attorney general Amos Wako said on Wednesday he planned to take legal action against the United States because the reasons it gave for revoking his visa were defamatory.


The United States confirmed on Sunday it had issued Wako, who has been Kenya's top government lawyer since 1991, with a travel ban because he was considered an obstacle to the fight against corruption in east Africa's biggest economy.

"In view of the reasons given, which are clearly defamatory, it is my intention to seek legal advice with a view of instituting legal proceedings in the United States of America.

"I want to take the war there, in the United States of America," he told a news conference

Ending a culture of impunity in a country where corruption is almost endemic is seen by international donors has a crucial step towards avoiding a repeat of last year's post-election violence at the next presidential election in 2012.

Wako has been criticised for failing to prosecute the perpetrators of the post-election violence that killed at least 1,300 people, and for not nailing the architects of several audacious corruption scams worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Wako said the letter he had received revoking his visa accused him of "corrupt actions which have adversely affected the national interests of the United States of America".

Wako defended his record, saying he had consistently been a driver for reform within government, even during difficult times, and that the U.S. decision had been made in "bad faith".