Kenya's New Fireman

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The mercurial relationship between Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi and renowned paleoanthropologist and wildlife advocate Richard Leakey has transfixed Kenyans for more than a decade. After first meeting Moi in 1968, Leakey gave occasional advice to the President, and in 1989 Moi made Leakey head of the Kenya Wildlife Service. Then came drama. Leakey quit and helped form an anticorruption opposition party; Moi branded him a neocolonial racist; a state-owned newspaper tied Leakey to the Ku Klux Klan; and progovernment thugs beat him when he attended a colleague's court hearing. "How much of it was deep [hatred] and how much of it was political, who knows?" says Leakey today.

Two months ago, the saga took another twist. In a move that startled Kenyans, the President turned to Leakey for salvation. He named Leakey head of Kenya's civil service and secretary to the Cabinet, presenting him with a power base some insiders say is second only to the President's. "Leakey is recognized as a man of determination and integrity," Moi said in his announcement. "These are attributes which are greatly needed." Leakey, a white third-generation Kenyan, is given the job of overhauling Kenya's corrupt and inefficient public service and jump-starting the country's economy. Moi also hopes Leakey will have better luck loosening the purse strings of foreign donors. Already there is evidence of change, at least on the surface. Last week Moi stated that the number of ministries would be cut from 27 to 15. "What we are trying to do is important and dramatic, and if it works, it will be a real victory," Leakey, 54, told TIME. "It would be very nice to prove that you can turn things around without a bloody revolution."

Born to famed paleoanthropologists Louis and Mary, Leakey spent much of his childhood on his parents' fossil-hunting expeditions, developing a love of the outdoors and a marked independent streak. After leaving school at 16, he at first rejected anything to do with fossils and archaeology for fear of being trapped in his parents' shadow. But by the time Leakey was in his late 20s, his team was making important finds. He wrote books on the origin of mankind and headed the National Museums of Kenya before turning to wildlife conservation.

When he took control of the Kenya Wildlife Service, it was close to collapse. Ivory poachers were killing hundreds of elephants annually, and staff morale was miserable. Leakey sacked corrupt rangers, brought in millions of dollars from international donors and helped enforce a ban on the ivory trade. "He has an ability to wake people up," says Joe Kioko, a deputy director at the Wildlife Service who has worked in Kenya's national parks for 31 years. "If you're good and get results, he'll give you all the support you need. But if you're useless, there's no room for you. He can't stand useless people."