Kenyan president reshuffles cabinet after ministerial graft charges

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's president reshuffled his cabinet on Tuesday after several ministers stepped aside because of corruption allegations, with at least two facing charges in court. Companies and investors cite pervasive graft as one of the biggest challenges to doing business in Kenya and U.S. President Barack Obama raised the issue when he visited in July. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who this week described corruption as a threat to national security, announced the changes - which included new ministers for energy, land, transport and devolution - in a televised address. The key Finance Ministry stayed in the hands of Henry Rotich, a technocrat who has not been linked to any of the corruption scandals that have engulfed the government. Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed was also retained. The previous land and transport ministers are facing graft charges. The minister for devolution and planning, Anne Waiguru, said on Saturday she had quit based on medical advice, saying unsubstantiated corruption allegations had damaged her health. Kenyatta, who was elected in 2013 on a promise to tackle corruption in East Africa's largest economy, said initiatives his government was taking would deal with graft. He also said he was increasing the number of cabinet posts to 20 from 19, and creating new sub-departments to help ministers cope better with their workloads. The president said in a speech on Monday he would introduce new anti-corruption legislation, blacklist officials accused of graft and strip licenses from banks violating money-laundering rules. [ID:nL8N13I24X] In an unusual move this month, the ambassadors of the United States, Britain and nine other countries said Kenya faced a "corruption crisis" and they would step up efforts to prevent the flow of illicit funds out of the country. Critics have accused the government of promising much but not delivering enough. Kenyatta has said previous anti-graft measures had not been implemented fast enough, citing red tape. "Kenyans want action on corruption, not words and more directives," the opposition coalition CORD said in a statement released by its spokesman before the reshuffle was announced. (Reporting by Edmund Blair and Duncan Miriri; Editing by Mark Heinrich and John Stonestreet)