Kenyan Newspapers Review: William Ruto’s Govt Spends KSh 4.3b On Travel In 3 Months

On Monday, December 10, the national dailies widely reported on the billions used by President William Ruto's government on travel.

The papers also reported on the cracks with the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party over the National Dialogue Committee report.

1. Daily Nation

The publication reported on the cracks within the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party over the National Dialogue Committee report.

While ODM leader Raila Odinga has endorsed the committee's recommendations, some Azimio leaders have rejected the report.

The division in the opposition coalition is so evident that former president Uhuru Kenyatta's party, the Jubilee Party, has dismissed the committee's recommendations.

Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni said the report failed to address the issue of the rising cost of living.

“We had no faith in that process. Whatever we were given is a document that is not conceivable,” Kioni said.

He pointed out that, as the spokesperson of the Jubilee Party, they do not subscribe to the report since it failed to address pertinent issues of cost of living, electoral justice, and fidelity to multiparty democracy.

Apart from the Jubilee Party, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua and her DAP-K counterpart Eugene Wamalwa have also called for the rejection of the report.

2. The Standard

The paper highlighted a report by the Controller of Budget, Margaret Nyakang’o, on the ongoing spending in the government, fuelled by a frenzy of luxury travel, fuel guzzlers, and unused idle billions.

The wastage comes even as Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u claims that the government is broke.

Nyakang'o's report shows that luxury foreign travel has increased by almost a third in the first three months of the 2023–24 financial year, from July to September.

According to the report, President William Ruto's administration has spent KSh 4.3 billion on domestic and local travel within the three months under review.

“KSh 4.3 billion was spent on domestic and foreign travel, while KSh 1.04 billion was spent on hospitality,” says the new report examining the expenditures of the Kenya Kwanza administration in the first three months of the 2023/24 financial year between July and September this year," Nyakang’o said.

3. The Star

The publication reported President William Ruto's response to criticism by the opposition leader on his many foreign trips, saying he is not a tourist.

Speaking during a church service in Lari Constituency in Kiambu County, Ruto said he has been travelling across the world to look for jobs and seek partnerships.

The president said he has been travelling around the world to look for jobs for many unemployed Kenyans.

''You have heard that I have travelled to many countries in the world. I have been travelling with a plan, as I am not a tourist. For this country to develop, there must be a plan and leadership. That is why, even as we talk today, our CS for Labour is in Saudi Arabia because we want to plan on how our youth will get jobs everywhere,'' Ruto said.

4. Taifa Leo

The Swahili Publication reported on the ongoing probe into the KSh 17 billion oil scandal by MP.

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director William Ruto and businesswoman Anne Njeri have been invited to appear before a parliamentary committee to shed light on the saga.

The National Assembly Energy Committee that is probing the matter has invited the two, who will appear separately before them on December 18.

“The committee takes exception to your failure to honour its invitations on two occasions. Nonetheless, the committee is scheduled to meet you on Monday, December 18, 2023, for you to submit the requested information and respond to any other issues that may be raised during the meeting,” reads the committee letter to Njeri.

In its meeting held on November 22, where Njeri failed to appear due to illness, the committee said they would be seeking to know the bank that advanced the KSh 17 billion to Njeri for the purchase of the consignment and whether the woman had creditworthiness to be given such a colossal amount.