President William Ruto has been forced to respond to outraged Kenyans over his rampant foreign trips amid mounting public debt being footed by struggling taxpayers saying the tours are for the good of the country.
He said the trips are a necessary part of his delivery as the Head of State.
Ruto’s latest 39th tour was in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo where he made remarks during the Summit of the Three Basins on Biodiversity Ecosystems, and Tropical Forests.
The Head of State is said to have visited 45 cities in 38 countries over the course of 83 days compared to retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is said to have visited 53 countries during his two terms of governance.
Effectively, president Ruto could cover more trips in less than two years in office compared to the number of foreign visits his predecessor made in ten years.
“They are people on my case as to why I am making foreign trips. That’s my mandate as the President. I am the chief agent of Kenya and ambassador who will plan on how the country will move forward.” Ruto said.
He explained that the overseas trips so far have brought investments in the country through employment opportunities pointing out that bilateral agreement between Kenya and Saudi Arabia will facilitate the employment of 350,000 Kenyans.
“Last week I was in Saudi Arabia and they said Kenyan people are hardworking, so let’s plan ourselves. We are expecting to sign bilateral agreement with them in another three weeks.” The president added.
President Ruto expressed that he will not shun foreign trips as long as it offers investment in the country.
The President said his recent visit to China enabled the nation to reap heavily from investment assuring that the nation will scale towards a positive trajectory eventually.
Some of the countries the Head of State has traveled to include the United Kingdom, France, Mozambique, Egypt, Eritrea, Rwanda, South Korea, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Others are Belgium, Comoros, Germany, Saudi Arabia, China, the United States, Israel and Netherlands.
In the first half of 2022/23, the Executive Office of the President spent Sh56.2 million, an increase from Sh20.9 million in similar period in 2021.
President Ruto, who was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth head of State in September last year, saw his office spend close to Sh46.08 million in the period between October and December last year.
This was an increase from Sh12.7 million that his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta spent in the second quarter of year 2020/21.
In this financial year ending June, the Office of the President has been allocated Sh262.6 million for foreign travel, an increase of more than three times compared to Sh72.1 million that had been allocated by the previous team at the National Treasury.
