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.

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".

President William Ruto has ordered the immediate cancellation of Adani Group deals involving Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco), stating that he is a listening leader.

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 men.

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.