Kenya’s president says he has cancelled multimillion-dollar airport expansion and energy deals with Indian tycoon Gautam Adani after U.S. bribery and fraud indictments against one of Asia’s richest me

Kenyan President William Ruto canceled two deals with Adani Group worth about $2.6 billion over alleged corruption, hours after the company’s billionaire founder was charged by the US authorities in a separate bribery scheme.

By George Obulutsa and Aaron Ross NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenyan President William Ruto said on Thursday he had ordered the cancellation of a procurement process that had been expected to award control of the country's main airport to India's Adani Group after its founder was indicted in the United States.

Kenyan President William Ruto sought Thursday to turn the page on a difficult year, cancelling controversial deals with India's Adani Group and vowing to tackle corruption, police kidnappings and gender-based violence.

It follows accusations that Adani was scheming to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, which he denies.

Kenya's President William Ruto has cancelled two major deals involving Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, after the tycoon was indicted for fraud by US prosecutors. In his state-of-the-nation address on Thursday, Ruto said the deals had been cancelled based on "new information provided by our investigative agencies and partner nations".

Kenya has terminated two high-profile agreements with India’s Adani Group, intensifying scrutiny on the conglomerate, which is already reeling from allegations of bribery by US authorities.

The president’s announcement came a day after Gautam Adani, the chair of the Indian conglomerate, was indicted in New York over his role in an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme.

Kenya's energy minister said on Thursday there was no bribery or corruption involved in the award of a contract to a unit of India's Adani Group to build power lines in the East African nation.