Several reports have often characterized President Ruto’s enthusiasm for travel as so great that it appears that he cannot pass up any opportunity despite pressing domestic demands.
Taking to his social media account, he justified his mode of travel to the U.S., claiming it was cheaper than Kenya Airways.
What Ruto said:
“Fellow Kenyans, I have noted concerns on my mode of transport to USA. As a responsible steward of public resources and in keeping with my determination for us to live within our means and that I should lead from the front in so doing, the cost was less than travelling on KQ,” he said in a post on X.
“The benefits from this visit far outweigh such a million times,” government spokesman Isaac Mwaura told the BBC, without confirming the cost.
The cost of hiring the jet for his 4-day State visit was reported to be a sum of 200 million Shillings an amount Kenyan said would have been far much less had he opted to travel to Kenya Airways and hire a private jet just within the US.
He travelled aboard an A6-RJU royal jet for both his outbound and return journeys. However, Ruto did not disclose the cost of the hired jet compared to what would have been spent using a Kenya Airways flight.
A State House official previously informed The Star that the presidential jet was not used because it has never flown to the US since its acquisition in the 1990s.
State House Press Secretary Emmanuel Talam was quoted by local media saying the plane could not be used as “it would have to stop five times to refuel.”
The president neither denied the use of such a huge amount of taxpayers’ money nor the colossal entourage.
