Flying Presidents

What’s the common denominator between Kenyan President William Ruto and his Nigerian opposite number, Bola Tinubu? They both have a remarkable penchant for air travel. This has incurred the ire of detractors in their respective countries, and it’s difficult to dismiss the criticism, considering the piles of cash they burn on each trip.

Ruto, who has been at the helm of the Kenyan State since September 2022, has travelled abroad 50 times, which works out to a monthly average of three trips. For his part, Tinubu, Nigeria’s leader for the past eight months, has travelled outside the country 14 times. This is equivalent to just under two trips a month.

Let’s put this into context. Uhuru Kenyatta, the man Ruto replaced as Kenya’s Number One citizen, travelled abroad an average of once a month during his decade in power. The foreign travels of Tinubu’s predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, also averaged one a month.

Ruto’s hectic foreign travel schedule started soon after he was inaugurated in September 2022 and, by the end of that year, he had jetted out at least twice a month. His busiest month so far was May 2023, when he made five foreign trips. He started 2024 with trips to Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Italy in January, and was in Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month.

Ruto is adamant his foreign travels are necessary, dismissing any criticism as a cheap shot by his detractors. He argues that multiple benefits accrue to the country from his attendance at global events and bilateral meetings with other heads of State. Recently, he pointed to the 300 000 job opportunities he claims to have secured through negotiations. This is a reference to deals to export skilled and semiskilled Kenyan labour to Europe and the

Middle East. Ruto said last year that his aim is that “every week we export about 3 000 to 5 000 people to provide labour all over the world so that they can bring money to transform this country”.

On returning from his Japan jaunt last month, Ruto said he had secured $2.3billion in financing for several megaprojects that include a port and special economic zone, a geothermal power plant and infrastructure development at the Port of Mombasa.

Clearly, there have been dividends. But did he have to personally make these trips, which kept him out of the country for a staggering 104 days, according to research conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)?

This question is pertinent, considering the costs involved. Again courtesy of the BBC, we now know that, during the fiscal year to July 2023 – which included nine months of Ruto’s Presidency – his travel expenditure totalled $9.2million, equivalent to about R170million. This was 30% more than the previous year’s budget.

Tinubu’s love for foreign travel saw him jet off to Paris for a twoday climate summit in June 2023, just three weeks after his inauguration. He had been to the French capital months earlier, shortly after winning the Presidential race, to rest and prepare to assume office. From there he made a beeline for the UK for private talks with his predecessor, who had also decided to rest in an overseas location after the election. A week later, he was in GuineaBissau for a meeting of the Economic Commission of West African States. He took a detour through Kenya before returning home.

Further trips followed in August and September 2023 – to Benin, India, the UAE and the US. His last trips in 2023 were undertaken in November and saw him travel to Saudi Arabia, GuineaBissau and Germany.

According to reports in the Nigerian media, Tinubu’s globetrotting has cost the Nigerian fiscus $2.2million during his first six months in office.

Ruto and Tinubu are not the only contemporary Presidents with an insatiable wanderlust. Malawi’s Lazarus Chakwera is in the same league. He once travelled to the UK to attend a virtual meeting because of connectivity issues in his country. But he atoned for this when he banned overseas trips for himself and his Cabinet in November last year

Martin Zhuwakinyu