President William Ruto has maintained that he did not overspend at the expense of taxpayers during his 4-day trip to the United States (US).
In his statement shared via his official X account, Ruto claimed that contrary to claims that he overspent on his flight, his trip was cheaper than travelling on a Kenya Airways line.
“Fellow Kenyans, I have noted concerns on my mode of transport to USA. As a responsible steward of public resources and in keeping with my determination for us to live within our means and that I should lead from the front in so doing, the cost was less than travelling on KQ,” Ruto said.
Yesterday, the Head of State dismissed claims that he ditched the traditional presidential jet for a chartered Boeing 737-700 business jet valued at Ksh200 million.
He went on to state that the aforementioned figure was completely exaggerated assuring Kenyans that he is very cautious of the national resources spent by his office.
The president additionally stated that he has significantly slashed the funding for his office and different government agencies.
He explained that the purpose of reducing his expenditure is to prioritise other vital sectors that need funding.
“I think the expenditure on my trip is completely exaggerated. They are actually bordering on ridiculous. I am very careful about the resources that I spend. In fact, I have cut down on funding to my office. I have cut down on funding to different government agencies.
“In fact, I have reduced by 30% recurrent expenditure in this budget so that we can accommodate, we can live within our means as I have said, and we can push more resources to the realm of development, to the realm of education, to providing help and doing the things that matter, including cash transfers to citizens. So I am very careful about how the government spends,” Ruto stated.
However, when asked to quote the specific amount, Ruto declined to give an exact answer insisting that the speculated figures are untrue and ridiculous.
The president was under sharp criticism after a section of Kenyans lamented that he overspent on his state visit at the expense of the burdened taxpayers.
