President William Ruto will fly out of the country on Sunday, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary General Cleophas Malala revealed.
During an interview on Citizen TV, Malala did not disclose the country that Ruto will travel to. However, President Ruto, while speaking during the 21st National Prayer Breakfast held at the Safari Park Hotel, mentioned that he would be speaking at the G7 Summit which is set to be held from June 13 to June 15 in Italy.
The event will bring together the leaders of the seven member States, as well as the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission representing the European Union.
This comes days after Ruto jetted back into the country following his State Visit to the U.S where he secured several deals.
Nonetheless, his trip was marred with many controversies arising from the amount of taxpayers’ money he spent to travel aboard a chartered plane estimated to have cost Kenyans a whopping Ksh2.4 million per hour.
Today, Ruto took the golden opportunity to address the elephant in the room about his travel expenses and the source of the money that he used to charter the plane.
“I am a very responsible steward. Believe you me. There is no way I can spend Ksh200 million,” he mentioned.
The president revealed that the actual amount used to charter the plane was less than Ksh10 million.
Before travelling to the U.S, Ruto was in Rwanda where he addressed the Africa Development Bank’s Annual Meetings.
As the new African Union (AU) Champion for Institutional Reform, Ruto stressed the need for reforms in the international lending framework that has historically disadvantaged African nations with high interest rates and onerous loan conditions.
He similarly went ahead to specifically ask African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina to support the creation of a credit agency that would provide accurate assessments of African countries' creditworthiness.
“Could you please support an Africa Credit Agency that will be factual about the situation in Africa,” adding “We have been profiled negatively for far too long.”
Additionally, in February this year, Ruto traveled to Japan to secure funding for various government projects aimed at boosting the local economy.
He sealed three deals with Japan's Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the trading arm of the Toyota Group.
Through the deal, the volume of the vehicle brands and models would be boosted.
Another agreement that was signed during the trip to Japan entailed the advancement of Hydrogen Electric Vehicles.
Besides this, the other agreement involved investment in the green energy value chain with a key focus on wind, solar, and Geothermal energy.
