December 27, 2015

Summary

State House defends Kenyatta’s record on state-sponsored travel. The many trips abroad that the president goes on are necessary, they say.

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State House defends Kenyatta’s record on state-sponsored travel

State House defends Kenyatta’s record on state-sponsored travel

State House has come out to defend president Uhuru’s massive foreign trips, following the heightening public criticism that has ensued with regards to the number and cost implications of the tours.

According to State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu, the President’s has to undertake necessary travel and the trips are bringing “enormous benefits’ to the country in terms of investments and finances for infrastructural development.

“The President has to undertake what is necessary travel and he is doing that. You just have to look at other Heads of States. The costs of the trips are really nothing compared to the benefits they bring to the country,” Esipisu said in a media briefing at State House, Nairobi adding that the president’s delegation is crucial in negotiating and sealing the deals.

“We got to get our experts out there and we have to do so”, he said.

In south Africa for instance, where Uhuru just came back from, He is said to have struck a deal with China that will see kenya get Sh150 billion for the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway from Nairobi to Naivasha. Under the agreement, China Eximbank will provide a in a new loan for the project.

President Uhuru is also said to have secured 1,000 new university scholarships for Kenyans who wish to study in China. Manoah Esipisu also added that China has also offered Sh4.5 billion to the government to construct a conference center for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the visit to Paris for the climate change conference, Uhuru is reported to have cemented a Sh20 billion deal with the World Bank for the supply of clean water to the long-suffering residents of Mombasa while the meeting in Malta enhanced cooperation with other countries in combating radicalization.

Social media has been abuzz with criticism on president Uhuru for his numerous trips, with Kenyans calling him “a visiting president”.

On Thursday, the President is again set to fly out again to Kigali, Rwanda to attend a meeting with the Presidents of Uganda and Rwanda about infrastructure along the Northern Corridor.

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