Nairobi (Alshahid) -Cabinet Minister Henry Kosgey a close ally and party chairman of Kenya’s PM Raila Odinga’s  ODM on Monday offered to step aside and said he was ready to face corruption charges, Daily Nation reports

The move by the Industrialisation minister came only a day after the Attorney-General Amos Wako approved his arrest and prosecution over the importation of over-age cars.

Mr Kosgey told journalists that he had written to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga offering to step aside from his ministerial duties until the car imports matter is dealt with.

He thereafter surrendered to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (Kacc) and is expected to be charged in court soon.

Mr Kosgey is also the national chairman of the PM’s political party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

He was also last month named as one of six top Kenyans named by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Louis Moreno-Ocampo as a key suspect in the post election violence that rocked the country after the disputed 2007 presidential election.

He becomes the third member of the Cabinet currently out of office on corruption allegations. The others are Moses Wetangula who had the Foreign Affairs portfolio and William Ruto who headed Higher Education.

Mr Wetangula is under investigations over the sale of Kenya’s embassy building in Tokyo, while Mr Ruto is facing court charges over the sale of public land. William Ruto is ODM’s deputy party leader.

Kenya’s PM Raila Odinga faces political challenges following allegations that his party bigwigs have been caught in corruption allegations.

Another close ally of the PM water Minister Charity Ngilu is under serious scrutiny over deep corruption and nepotism allegations.