Editor's Review

"I think the austerity measures cut across the board."

Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Dr. Korir Sing'oei has indicated that President William Ruto's foreign travels will be reduced moving forward.

Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV on Sunday, July 21, the PS noted that the government's austerity measures to reduce spending were being implemented across the board and that the Head of State would only attend critical events.

According to Sing'oei, President Ruto's foreign visits at the beginning of his term were many because he was building contacts and there was a lot of demand.

"I think the austerity measures cut across the board. We will consider very seriously which of the events are truly critical and must be attended by the president because that has an additional cost, or which of these the Prime Cabinet Secretary can represent him.

"Perhaps we won’t see the president flying out of the country as frequently. The visits were beginning to reduce because in the first year of his term he was building contacts and there was a lot of demand for him; people wanted to hear his voice. Now that he has been able to set the tone, some of these meetings he might not attend, therefore there will be a reduction in that regards," Sing'oei remarked.

President William Ruto.

The PS further maintained that the president's delegation during the foreign visits will be hugely reduced.

"The biggest impact will be on the sizes of delegations. We will fundamentally reduce the delegations just to be able to carry forward some of these functions," he added.

Sing'oei noted that any serious cuts made to travel would have a great impact on the State Department of Foreign Affairs.

His remarks come after the Head of State previously received criticism over his massive number of foreign visits since he took over power.