Kenya's interior minister has died in hospital, the government said on Saturday, a month before the country is due to hold national elections.

"It is with deep sorrow and shock that we announce the sudden passing on of Interior CS Retired General Joseph Nkaissery," Joseph Kinyua, the chief of staff and head of the public service, said in a statement.

"Gen. Nkaissery passed on at Karen Hospital in Nairobi a few hours after being admitted for a check-up," he said.