{"id":119781,"date":"2024-05-30T19:55:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T19:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto"},"modified":"2024-05-30T20:11:51","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T20:11:51","slug":"friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto","title":{"rendered":"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong><\/span>Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said that the private plane he used to fly to the US last week only cost about 10m shillings [$73,000; \u00a360,000], following criticism that he was being extravagant.<\/p>\n

He said \u201csome friends\u201d of the country offered it at that price when he had opted to use the national airline to save money.<\/p>\n

He said there was \u201cno way\u201d he could have spent about $1.5m \u2013 the figure that was reported to have cost to hire the Boeing 737-700 VIP plane.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not a mad man,” he said, speaking at a National Prayer Breakfast event in Nairobi on Thursday.<\/p>\n

But the remarks have provoked more backlash, with some Kenyans online asking who the friends are.<\/p>\n

Mr Ruto went to the US last week on a three-day official state visit – the first such trip by an African leader in more than 15 years.<\/p>\n

While he was there, Kenya secured a number of investment deals worth billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

After returning to the country, the president defended himself against concerns over the cost of the trip, saying the luxury jet he had used was cheaper than the national airline \u2013 without disclosing the amounts.<\/p>\n

Criticism continued, with some questioning his statement and others saying that he should have used Kenya Airways.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the president explained that he was told that the cheapest plane would cost about $530,000 and he instructed his office to book Kenya Airways for himself and his entourage of about 30 people.<\/p>\n

But when some friends heard that he was going to travel on a commercial flight, they asked him how much he was willing to pay for a hired plane, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have built a big reputation as a country and we have built friends… I said I was not ready to pay more than [$153m]. They said bring [$73,000] we’ll give you the plane,\u201d the president explained.<\/p>\n

He insisted he was not going to allow misuse of taxpayers’ money. \u201cI must lead from the front as I tell others to tighten their belt, mine must be where it begins\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo relax and the debate must end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But the debate has not ended and some Kenyans online are asking whether it was appropriate to accept the offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho are those ‘friends’ giving a president a gift? He needs to disclose this,\u201d Karani Mutonga said on X (formerly Twitter).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was a gift from an external source, it comes with some geopolitical implications. No free lunch,\u201d said Mwangi Maina.<\/p>\n

The continued row over spending by the government has come amid concerns that the government has been using taxpayers’ money to fund extravagance – which officials have regularly denied.<\/p>\n

Since coming to power in 2022, Mr Ruto has raised several taxes and imposed new ones, angering many Kenyans.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Kenya<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said that the private plane he used to fly to the US last week only cost about 10m shillings [$73,000; \u00a360,000], following criticism that he was being extravagant. He said \u201csome friends\u201d of the country offered it at that price when he had opted to use the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":119780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[6857,7003,544],"class_list":["post-119781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-kenya","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"\nFriends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said that the private plane he used to fly to the US last week only cost about 10m sh ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said that the private plane he used to fly to the US last week only cost about 10m sh ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-30T19:55:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-30T20:11:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-30T19:55:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-30T20:11:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto\"},\"wordCount\":481,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Kenya\",\"Kenya\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto\",\"name\":\"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto - kenya\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-30T19:55:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-30T20:11:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said that the private plane he used to fly to the US last week only cost about 10m sh ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":562,\"caption\":\"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\",\"name\":\"kenya\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto - kenya","description":"Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said that the private plane he used to fly to the US last week only cost about 10m sh ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto","og_description":"Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said that the private plane he used to fly to the US last week only cost about 10m sh ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto","og_site_name":"kenya","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2024-05-30T19:55:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-30T20:11:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":562,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto","datePublished":"2024-05-30T19:55:16+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-30T20:11:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto"},"wordCount":481,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Kenya","Kenya"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto","name":"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto - kenya","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-30T19:55:16+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-30T20:11:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto has said that the private plane he used to fly to the US last week only cost about 10m sh ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2024\/05\/sm_1717083467.982879.jpg","width":1000,"height":562,"caption":"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/friends-helped-pay-for-private-jet-ruto#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Friends helped pay for private jet \u2013 Ruto"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/","name":"kenya","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}