Kenyan President Ruto’s Claim of Subsidized U.S. Flight Raises More Concerns from Citizens

Kenyans have been reacting to the news that President William Ruto’s flight for his state visit to the U.S. was subsidized by “some friends” of the country. The loud scrutiny started earlier this week after Ruto said in an X post the cost of him flying with a private jet was much cheaper than flying with Kenya Airways.

In a new press release from the Kenyan presidency, the government disclosed that the “friends” Ruto referred to is the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government. “In this specific case, the [UAE] government offered the aircraft at less than KSh 10 million,” the statement says.

“We ask for accountability of our taxes we get lectured like we fools,” X user @Cpux_ commented on the press release, stating that only KSh 10 million was paid for the Boeing jet. For X user @Rasputin_24, they believe it’s all a cover up, stating that, “If this was the case, it would have been said from the get go. But we know there is more to this than meets the eye.”

Another X user, Kinyaone Bintiy asked, “What did Kenya give in return? That’s the question that is hiding under all these many words.”

Meanwhile, X user @Wahn2020 commented pointedly, “Stop insulting our intelligence. We are not fools.”

For his U.S. trip, Ruto opted not to fly out with the official Kenyan presidential jet, a Fokker 70 ER. Instead, he rented a Boeing 777 business jet. “The presidential jet cannot do the American route. This means it will stop five times to refuel,” presidential press secretary Emmanuel Talam told The Eastleigh Voice at the time Ruto was flying out of the country.

In its report, The Eastleigh Voice estimated that it costs $18,000 per hour of flying to rent the Boeing jet, which means over $300,000 would need to be paid for the 19-hour flight to Atlanta, and that’s not adding the flight to Washington and back to Nairobi, as well as waiting costs. Ruto’s claim that the rented private jet cost only $73,000 is not being well-received by many, especially when his extensive, luxury traveling history is well-known.

“We have built a big reputation as a country and we have built friends,” Ruto said during a prayer breakfast broadcast on Thursday, adding that the “friends” simply asked for KSh 10 million due to the relationship between both countries. He said there was “no way” he would have spent KSh 200 million ($1.5 million) on the private jet, as is being reported.