Office of the President wants Ruto allocated foreign trips budget

The Office of the President has urged the National Treasury to set aside a budget for Deputy President William Ruto’s foreign trips.

Speaking when he appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Administration on Tuesday, John Makumi, the accounting officer in the Office of the President, said that so far there is no budget for foreign trips in the Office of the Deputy President forcing the Office of the President to dig into its budget to fund Ruto’s trips whenever he travels to represent the President.

“Office of the President has on several occasions being forced to facilitate foreign trips for Deputy President whenever he travels to represent the government. Creating a budget for the Office of the Deputy President will go a long way into solving this issue,” said Makumi.

In his submission, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery asked for a 10 per cent budget increment to cater for the facilitation of security operations during local trips by President Kenyatta and his deputy in the country and the purchase of communication gadgets.

In the 2015/16 budget, Interior Ministry received Ksh120 billion and a 10 per cent increment would therefore put the budget at Ksh132 billion.

Kamama agreed to approve the request with the deficit of Ksh 12 billion at the Interior Ministry being dealt with in a supplementary budget.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto have in several come under sharp criticism over the number of foreign trips that they have undertaken.

Kenyatta is reportedly the most travelled President in Kenya’s history in just the three years that he has been in power.

By December last year, President Kenyatta had undertaken 43 trips compared to former President Mwai Kibaki’s 33 in his ten years in office.

Barely two months after coming into power, President Kenyatta and DP Ruto were on the receiving end over a number of trips undertaken by Ruto and the alleged hiring of a private jet at a cost of Ksh 100 million.

A report tabled in Parliament last year pointed out that President Kenyatta had issued verbal instruction to DP Ruto to travel to four African countries namely Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Nigeria and Gabon between May 16th and 19th to push Kenya’s agenda of withdrawing from the ICC ahead of the African Union Summit slated for June that year.

The report established that Ksh 18.9 million was spent on the trip, though failed to substantiate the origin of invoices that showed the Office of the Deputy President paid Ksh 100 million for a private jet.

State House has in recent time moved to defend the President’s trips terming them a necessarily foreign relation engagement, though this has not led to a subsidence of public condemnation.

A section of Kenyans have remained adamant in their call for a reduction in the number of foreign trips by President Kenyatta and the delegation that accompanies him in such trips saying they were burdening the taxpayer.

In his defence, President Kenyatta said his trips have been beneficial in attracting foreign investment and growing the country’s economy.

The Head of State is currently on a one week trip of France and Germany as he seeks to consolidate support in the fight against terrorism and strengthen tread ties between Kenya and the two countries.

@benjaminwafula

Additional reporting by Vincent Afande