Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua defended President William Ruto on Monday, following reports that the head of state has spent three times more on travel than his predecessors.
According to the report, the President’s office spent Ksh.2.369 billion on travel, fuel, hospitality, and vehicle maintenance alone from October 2022 to March 2023, compared to Ksh.852 million spent by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the same period last year.
According to a report from the Controller of Budget (COB), President Ruto’s office spent Ksh.541 million on domestic and international travel during the same period last year, compared to Uhuru’s Ksh.218.3 million.
In response to the report, DP Gachagua accused the media of being biassed in its reporting, arguing that while criticising the government’s spending, it should also report on the gains it has made.
“Yesterday morning I found another headline saying that for the time you have been in office you (Ruto) have spent three times what your predecessors spent on local and international travel but these people were not honest enough and objective to also outline the level of activities you have carried out in that period because cost is determined by the level of activity,” he said.
“So I invite the media to find out when the President has travelled and to which country, what is the gain for the country. It is only then that you can make an objective analysis.”
Speaking at a briefing on the EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement at State House, the deputy president further defended Ruto’s hands-on approach to leadership.
He said institutions succeed because the accounting officers employ the hands-on approach to leadership and that is what President Ruto is doing with Kenya.
“Had they done some research, they’d come to the conclusion that all successful institutions are led by CEOs who practice hands-on style of management. This was stuck for many years and through prudent commitment and focused leadership you gave deadlines, encouraged everyone to work and that is why we have this agreement today,” Gachagua said.
Gachagua went on to say that the same “people” who are criticising President Ruto for his travels are also complaining that he, as DP, is not travelling.
“I don’t understand these people sometimes. They complain that you are travelling too much at the same time they complain that I’m not travelling,” he said.
“I don’t know which is which because I saw them complaining that since you leave me around to man the house, they say that you have stopped me from travelling and assigned me what they call useless duties. I don’t know what it is that they want to do.”
DP Gachagua then urged President Ruto to continue his travels in order to “bring resources for the development of this country.”
“We want to encourage you that you must continue with bilateral [and] multilateral diplomacy for the benefit of this country as you continue to locally harness resources to restore the economy of this country to where President Mwai Kibaki left us.”
