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Gachagua claims Ruto is planning to splash Ksh70B on jets and choppers
12th October, 2025 06:04 PM
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has claimed that President William Ruto has sent a delegation to Vietnam to purchase military-grade aircraft.
Speaking on Sunday, October 12, 2025, at Ambassadors of Christ Church in Mwea Constituency, Kirinyaga County, for church service, Gachagua accused the Head of State of misusing state resources while key sectors such as education and social welfare remain underfunded.
“Officers from the military and from the Office of the President have been dispatched to Vietnam to purchase two executive jets and eight helicopters at a cost of more than 70 billion shillings,” he revealed.
The Democracy for Citizens (DCP) Party leader scoffed at Ruto, saying the government is prioritising unnecessary expenditure at the expense of key sectors such as health and education, which he lamented are in shipwreck.
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“When our children are at home, when hospitals have no medicine. SHA is a scam. William Ruto has purchased their own machines. They have delivered a hospital in Kenya, and SHA is collecting, is pay them later, said SHA is the greatest scheme to have ever happened,” Gachagua stated.
His claimed procurement trip to Vietnam, which has yet to be officially confirmed by the State House or the Ministry of Defence, comes amid austerity measures and calls from civil society for more transparency in budgeting and public spending.
First-world country
Meanwhile, Ruto has said that Kenya will transition from a developing nation to a first-world nation by the year 2055.
Ruto has said his administration’s focus is on key sectors such as housing, healthcare, education, and agriculture, which he believes will form the foundation for economic growth and sustainable development.
Speaking on Sunday, October 12, 2025, during the 70th anniversary of the African Inland Church Ziwani held at Starehe Boys in Nairobi County, Ruto said the country has remained in the developing category for a long time, but he is determined to change.
Ruto had earlier highlighted that Kenya’s industrialisation, infrastructure growth, and economic reforms are critical pillars in achieving the vision of being a first-world country.
“I want to say this in church that by God’s grace, we have been in the third world for far too long. We have had our fair share, and it is now time, by God’s grace, the efforts of our hands, the blessings of our plans, and the energy and unity of the people of Kenya, to move this country from a third-world to a first-world country in the next 30 years,” he said.
This comes as the country continues to grapple with the effects of external borrowings and high recurrent expenditure, which snarls operations in key sectors such as education.
But the Head of State insists that he has a clear plan and vision to improve the living standards across the country and bolster the economy.
Ruto is convinced that Kenya has resources, ideas, and human capital to be one of the developed countries in the world.
“We have what it takes, we have the ideas, the plan, the people, and the resources to take this country to a first world by 2055. I am persuaded beyond any reasonable doubt that we are going to move this country to a first world by 2055,” he stated.
