Eldas MP Adan Keynan thinks the nation has benefited more from President William Ruto's multiple international trips.
Maalim claims that because of President Ruto's travels, the nation has taken advantage of diplomatic connections and direct interactions with major global economies.
Speaking on Citizen TV's Daybreak program on Thursday, the lawmaker insisted that Kenyans should embrace it as it will be advantageous to the nation rather than criticizing the President for what appears to be excessive travel.
"The President is the chief diplomat of Kenya and whatever he does is done for the best interest of the people of Kenya," he stated.
Did you read this?
The flying President:
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 26, 2023
Adan Keynan – MP, Eldas: President Ruto is the country's chief diplomat; to that extent, whatever he does is in the best interest of Kenyans. All his visits and trips to other states are for economic gains #DayBreak @AyubAbdikadir pic.twitter.com/SiyH8eNxmI
"In all these visits the underlying issue is economic gains and if we were to quantify and magnify you will realise that we have gained more than what this headline is alluding to," he was responding to an article published on Thursday.
Since taking office in September 2022, President Ruto has reportedly traveled to 38 different nations.
Over 83 days, Ruto is reported to have traveled to 45 cities in 38 different countries.
In sharp contrast, during his ten-year term, Uhuru Kenyatta is reported to have traveled to 53 different countries.
Godfrey Osotsi, the governor of Vihiga, stated during his appearance on the same program that Ruto should represent himself through his cabinet secretaries and only travel when necessary.
He even asserted that some of Ruto's government-to-government agreements in other nations—like the fuel agreement with Saudi Arabia—have raised living expenses rather than helped Kenyans.
"Maybe a few of these trips are yielding fruits as they say but he doesn't need to travel. He has a foreign minister and a minister for trade who can travel to some of these things," Osotsi noted.
"The recent travel to Saudi Arabia, I looked at it and thought that would be done by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi."
The Head of State has visited several nations, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Comoros, Germany, Saudi Arabia, China, the United States, and Israel.
The others are South Korea, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom, France, Mozambique, Egypt, Eritrea, and Rwanda.
