Ruto's costly trips clash with Gen Z austerity demand

The trips are endless, luxurious, and incomplete without large convoys, complete with a fleet of helicopters. The millions of shillings in mobilization handouts on each trip add to the reckless spending spree that President William Ruto’s regime has adopted for his domestic trips.

The president’s promises to embrace austerity measures to reduce the government’s excessive spending are today water under the bridge, as the president invests heavily in domestic trips focused on his reelection campaign, at the expense of concerns that took the blood, sweat, and tears of Gen Zs.

At the height of the 2024 Gen Z protests, President Ruto had announced a raft of austerity measures, including the suspension of all non-essential travel by state and public officers to reduce government spending.

Today, however, Gen Zs who were hoping their pushback against unnecessary spending would force Ruto to prioritize austerity measures may have to give up. The suspension of non-essential travel was just a stunt to calm down the political temperatures at the time. The trips have increased significantly as domestic travel by the president increases.

If not flying outside the country, the president has put in place a robust domestic travel itinerary that has limited his stay at State House, Nairobi, to barely two days every week, but has condemned taxpayers to foot the huge bill that comes with presidential travel, its disruption to activities, and the allowances of public officers in his entourage.

A review by The Standard of the president’s incursions across the country over the last two years reveals a pattern that has formed his early campaign blueprint. The visits have been frequent and take between three and four days for key voting blocs.

Critics believe the travels are expensive and are among the teething problems that the government has failed to address as the focus on reelection campaigns dwarfs austerity measures. Several governance analysts argue that many project inspections could be effectively handled by Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and county implementation teams, with the President receiving regular progress reports from Nairobi.

“Like in Vihiga, the Head of State used millions to land and officially launch the Sh350 million Luanda Market project. It is a project he should have left to his Cabinet Secretary and perhaps only returned to commission after completion,” noted governance expert David Owino.

The visits are frequent and at times involve the relaunching of projects that had been launched. In some places, the president has fragmented several projects and is commissioning them in bits.

For instance, this year alone, President Ruto has visited the Coastal region four times to unveil different projects. And instead of consolidating them to reduce expenditure on visits, others have been saved for the next visit. 

With him, a long line of public officers, spending fortunes in fuel and allowances, have been in close tow. Additionally, millions have also been spent to mobilize attendees, with part of the funds reportedly given to MPs to prepare for his reception.

From January, the president has visited Nyanza and Western four times each. While some of the visits have been on a single day, a majority have been comprehensive. Similarly, he has also visited the North Eastern region four times. 

Observers believe the frequency of the trips is unlikely to reduce despite the decision by MPs to reduce State House allocation to Sh12.6 billion from Sh16.3 billion in the current fiscal year, a reduction of nearly 23 per cent.

The Executive Office of the President was trimmed to Sh8.8 billion. Meanwhile, the Deputy President’s office suffered a 30 per cent reduction, falling to Sh3.57 billion from Sh5.1 billion.

The early campaigns that have already started taking shape during the period have only strengthened the president’s resolve to traverse the country.

Almost every week, President Ruto is either undertaking official foreign travel or touring counties across the country on development missions that often last several days.

Western Kenya has emerged as one of the regions receiving the highest number of presidential visits.

Since the aftermath of the 2024 protests, the Head of State has repeatedly visited Bungoma, Kakamega, Vihiga and Busia counties, inspecting infrastructure projects, launching affordable housing programmes, commissioning roads, inaugurating electricity connectivity projects and engaging local leaders.

The Gen Z protests were largely fuelled by opposition to new taxes and frustration over the high cost of living, with demonstrators accusing the government of asking ordinary citizens to tighten their belts while maintaining costly public expenditure.

Today, questions continue to be raised over whether repeated presidential tours requiring extensive security deployments, aircraft, advance teams and large entourages represent a prudent use of taxpayers’ money.

Within Western Kenya itself, opinion remains sharply divided.

Supporters argue that the region suffered decades of neglect and that President Ruto’s personal engagement has unlocked billions of shillings worth of infrastructure investments.

They point to ongoing road construction, affordable housing developments, electricity connectivity programmes and market projects launched during his visits as evidence that direct presidential supervision delivers results.

Political allies further maintain that citizens deserve direct engagement with the Head of State and that project inspections strengthen accountability.

Critics, however, question whether every commissioning ceremony requires a presidential convoy stretching hundreds of metres and accompanied by dozens of elected leaders, many of whom deliver similar political speeches.

“We seem not to have learned from June 2024. These presidential tours are increasingly blending governance with political mobilisation as the country gradually approaches the 2027 General Election,” Owino said.

Throughout his country tours, President Ruto has consistently defended his travels, insisting that his administration is implementing the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda through direct supervision of projects and engagement with citizens.

Government communications have highlighted investments in roads, housing, markets, electricity connectivity and air transport infrastructure as evidence that the visits are producing tangible development outcomes.

Even Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale, despite being a member of the ruling UDA party, has occasionally challenged the President to ensure Western Kenya receives meaningful projects instead of mere tours.

“We supported President Ruto in 2022, and we want him to deliver what he promised. We do not want to be taken around in circles with expensive tours,” Khalwale said during a recent rally.

He further argued that Western Kenya deserves visible infrastructure investments.

“Western Kenya must see roads, hospitals, airports and genuine empowerment, not merely political handshakes,” he added.

Despite the criticism, several leaders allied to the Kenya Kwanza administration insist that the President’s visits are justified.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has likewise defended the President’s engagements in the region.

“We should become agents of positive change by transforming our mindset, our conversations and our politics. As a community and as a region, we must reduce toxic politics and personal attacks because we are one family,” he said.

But the visits have not been short of freebies, further adding to the misplaced priority on government spending. Interviews with several UDA and ODM operatives established that each visit is preceded by mobilization. While some of the mobilization is done by elected leaders, others are funded from the government’s coffers.

During President Ruto’s visit to Gusii in April, a 100-year-old man was trampled to death in a crowd scrambling for Sh200 handouts reportedly distributed by allies of the Head of State.

Witnesses said the elderly man, identified as Ombui Orandi, whose home is in Buyonge about three kilometres away, was among hundreds who had gathered at Egetuki in Bomachoge Chache, Kisii County. The President addressed the crowd and promised them his “greetings.”

Besides the deceased, four other people, including a seven-year-old schoolboy, were seriously injured in the stampede triggered by the scramble for the cash.

Despite the incident, politicians in the region have since returned to their normal routines as they prepare to distribute more handouts to residents.

Interviews with residents, leaders and local mobilisers indicate that cash distribution is often intentionally chaotic, with some individuals allegedly exploiting the disorder to pocket a larger share of the funds.