National Security Minister John Michuki said the four were suspended after a government probe into the delivery of badly needed food and water to up to four million Kenyans now estimated to need such aid to survive.

The four men, including two district commissioners, "have not managed food distribution properly," Michuki said in a statement.

"In some cases, there has been misallocation of resources and failure to respond effectively to the emergency situation," he said, adding that the four had been "sent on compulsory leave ... pending more detailed investigations."

The probe was initiated last week following complaints from some aid organizations, including the UN World Food Programme and Oxfam, that the government's aid distribution system was seriously flawed.

Among other deficiencies, they said aid was routinely being dumped in villages without any monitoring mechanism, leading to supplies being stolen, sold, or distributed by local chiefs to their cronies.

Last week, police arrested 24 local traders for allegedly stealing and selling food aid in the northeast town of Garissa.

The government had initially rebuffed aid agency calls to fold its relief efforts in with those being conducted by private and international agencies.

On Sunday, Michuki conceded that there were problems in the government's aid distribution and said corrective measures had been taken, including the suspension of the four officials.

"The governments priority is to make sure that all Kenyans who are facing shortage of food due to drought are well catered for, and will not allow a compromise or politicization of this issue," he said.

At least 40 people, mainly children in the northeast, have died of drought-related malnutrition and associated diseases since December and President Mwai Kibaki has declared the situation a national disaster.

The United Nations estimates that up to 11 million people in four east African countries -- Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti -- are on the brink of starvation.

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