KENYA : President William Ruto departs the country for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he is scheduled to attend the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) Summit.
This trip comes a day after Ruto left the country for Uganda to attend the African Union Extraordinary Summit on the Post-Malabo Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
The Uganda trip was preceded by a trip to Ghana on January 6, 2025, when President Ruto left Nairobi for Accra to attend President John Mahama's inauguration ceremony.
Previously nicknamed 'Africa's Flying President' for his numerous trips abroad, the head of state had slowed on his diaspora travel, following widespread demonstrations last year.
In June 2024, young Kenyans Protesting against a Finance Bill meant to introduce 'punitive taxation measures held nationwide protests, calling for the bill's withdrawal, job creation, transparency in government's procurement especially on Public Private Partnerships and Austerity measures.
The protests which lasted weeks, climaxed with young Protestors in the East African Country breaching Parliament, forcing legislators to flee.
This, forced the President to surrender, with the Finance Bill 2024 eventually withdrawn, Cabinet dissolved and several changes in Parastatals made.
Since the widespread protests, 'Africa's Flying President' cut short his trips abroad, rarely leaving the Country.
Mr Ruto, made about 50 journeys abroad since he became president in 2022 – averaging more than three a month.
In comparison, Ruto’s predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, averaged just over one foreign trip a month in his decade in charge.
President Ruto’s travel schedule since his inauguration in 2022 has been hectic.
Between September of that year and December 2023, Ruto had travelled abroad at least twice every month. In May 2023 he made five trips. He travelled to various African countries, Europe and the US for global events and bilateral meetings.
The Controller of Budget, an independent office that oversees government spending, showed a significant increase in the office of the president’s travel expenditure in the year to July 2023 – which included nine months of Mr Ruto’s presidency.
Overall spending for both domestic and foreign travel for the year was over 1.3bn Kenyan shillings ($9.2m; £7.3m), exceeding the travel budget for the previous year by more than 30%.
Mr Ruto himself has said he does not “travel like a tourist” and the trips are necessary to get foreign investment and create employment for Kenyans abroad.
While stressing the benefits of the presidential trips, Kenya has also taken some action to counter the criticism of government employees travelling abroad.
Kenya said it had cut its civil service travel budget by 50% in the wake of accusations of “wastage” on domestic and foreign trips.
Meanwhile, President Ruto leaves the country this evening for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he is scheduled to attend the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) Summit.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said Ruto will address the summit's opening session, where he will showcase Kenya's leadership in renewable energy, particularly geothermal power.
"The President is scheduled to speak during the opening session of the summit, whose theme is "Exploring the Global Energy Transition." He will highlight Kenya’s leadership in renewable energy, particularly geothermal power, and identify opportunities for global partnerships to address energy challenges and foster green growth,” the statement reads.
In addition to his participation in the summit, Ruto is also expected to hold bilateral talks with prominent global leaders, including UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
"President Ruto will also hold high-level bilateral discussions with key global leaders, including His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. These discussions will focus on strengthening cooperation in energy, trade, investment, and technology, which are key pillars of Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda," the statement added.
Mohamed noted that the visit is expected to culminate in the signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Kenya and the UAE.
He explained that the agreement is anticipated to simplify export procedures and attract UAE investments in various sectors of Kenya’s economy.
"During the visit, Kenya and the UAE are expected to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which will foster increased trade, investment, and development cooperation between the two countries.
"The UAE is Kenya’s sixth-largest export destination and a key market for tea, meat products, fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The agreement is expected to further simplify export procedures, enhance market access for trade in services, and stimulate increased investments from the UAE across several sectors," the statement concluded.