Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'Oei on Sunday revealed that President William Ruto's foreign trips will be reduced in the future.
He explained that this was part of the austerity measures to ensure the President only leaves the country for important global events.
"We will fundamentally reduce the delegations to be able to carry forward and see which events are truly critical to be attended by the President because you know that comes with an extra cost," he revealed.
The PS added that moving forward those who will be attending various meetings include ambassadors in respective countries, officials in the relevant departments, the Prime Cabinet Secretary, the Foreign Affairs CS and the President could also utilise technology and send pre-recorded messages.
He added that Ruto's trips came at an added cost and therefore needed to reduce the number of times the President is outside the country to save taxpayers money.
Sing'Oei explained that in Ruto's first year in office, he was outside the country a lot to make connections with other global leaders at various events.
The PS also added that Ruto was in high demand by international players who were interested in Kenya. He noted that Ruto was sharing his views on climate change and development.
"In the first year of his term, he was building contact and there was a lot of demand for him. People wanted to hear his views and understand Kenya's perspective on climate change, financial architecture and debt," he remarked.
Sing'Oei's revelation came a few weeks after President Ruto suspended all non-essential travel to avoid misappropriating taxpayers' money. This was part of Ruto's new austerity measures for his administration.
Since taking over in September 2022, the President has been on over 40 foreign trips to different countries and this raised concerns among Kenyans who questioned the trip and their benefits to Kenya. Here's a list of Ruto's foreign trips.
The Head of State however in his defence argued that the trips were meant to open up Kenya to global nations for development and job creation as well as funding.
He emphasised that his trips to different countries had led to the signing of bilateral job agreements, investment in the technology sector, and funding for ongoing projects in the country.
"They are people on my case as to why I am making foreign trips. That’s my mandate as the President. I am the chief agent of Kenya and ambassador who will plan on how the country will move forward," Ruto responded in October 2023.
