The president of Kenya, William Ruto, has received generalized criticism after saying that the private jet that used to fly to the United States last week was cheaper than using the national airline.
However, he did not say how much the jet had cost or how much he would have cost at Kenia Airways.
“The facts that are in the public do not seem to tear it,” said the political analyst Professor Herman Manyora to the BBC.
The figure of the main opposition Eugene Wamalwa told local media that President’s comments were “antipatriotics.”
He said the president should have taken the opportunity to market Kenya Airways.
Ruto went to the United States in an official state visit of three days, the first trip of this type of an African leader in more than 15 years.
While he was there, Kenya obtained a series of investment agreements worth bills of dollars.
The country was also appointed by the US as an important organization of the organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO), consolidating its position as one of the closest security partners in the United States in Africa.
But the use of a luxury plane for the United States trip has continued to cause criticism, which led the president to respond.
On Sunday, a day after returning to the country, Routo defended himself as a “public resources administrator.”
“According to my determination for us to live within our media and that I must lead from the front to do so, the cost was less than traveling (Kenya Airways),” he said in X (previously Twitter).
Kenya Airways has not commented on the cost.
But it has ruled out as false a widely circulated statement that aims to demonstrate that using the airline would have been cheaper for the president.
Despite his explanation, many Kenyans have criticized the president.
Manyora says that the president should have explained better, to persuade people that it was correct to use a private plane.
He said that the president should have “considered people’s perceptions” and explain the benefits of using a collegiate plane, including flexibility, class and security.
“I would have expected that kind of explanation, not one that leaves people wondering,” he said.
In social networks, some criticized the president for using an airline owned by another country.
“It is a pity as a country if the president cannot use our national airlines, Kenya Airways, because it is expensive,” he said Alinur Mohamed.
Calculating the total cost of executive class tickets for the president and his delegation, the local media report would have been much cheaper than hiring a jet.
The president used a Royaljet company, owned by Dubai, to travel to the United States, along with an entourage of about 30 people.
It is reported that the hiring of said plane costs $ 1.5 million (£ 1.2m) compared to the estimated cost of $ 300,000 for executive class tickets in Kenya Airways for the entire delegation.
But Mr. Routo told the Voice of America (VOA) station during the weekend that the estimated cost of his trip was “completely exaggerated.”
He did not answer a direct question about how much it costs, but said that the amounts that are “are” ridiculous. ”
“I am careful with the resources I spend,” he added.
Last week, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura told the BBC that the “benefits of this visit far exceed the costs, without confirming the sums involved.
The row arises in the midst of critics ‘concerns that taxpayers’ money has been used to finance extravagance in government, while taxes have risen on the basis that the State needs additional funds.
Ruto has made more than 50 visits abroad since he became president in 2022, averaging more than three per month.
The Government has defended trips as necessary, while indicating recent directives to reduce spending.
