Ruto To Travel To Germany Tonight

President William Ruto has announced that he will be travelling to Germany tonight, part of the over 35 trips that he has made to 45 cities worldwide since assuming office in September 2022.

Speaking during a church service in Sotik, Bomet County, the Head of State revealed that his trip to the European country will be to improve bilateral agreements between the two countries.

He added that he would follow up on the 200,000 jobs German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had promised to Kenyans when he visited the country in May.

The trip will come after his trip to Saudi Arabia where he revealed that he had secured 350,000 job opportunities for Kenyans in the Saudi labour workforce.

President William Ruto speaking during a service in Bomet County on November 19, 2023. /PCS

"I have agreed with Bore (Labour CS, Florence) that we will sign bilateral labour agreements to export labour from Kenya. We want to export at least 3,000 Kenyans every week to go work worldwide and change their livelihoods and Kenya," he stated.

"I was in Saudi Arabia last week. My CS was at the Saudi Arabia Embassy as we had agreed. The German (Chancellor) was in Kenya three months ago. I am going to Germany tonight because he (the German President) had promised us 200,000 jobs, so I must go sort it out."

He however rubbished criticism regarding the series of trips that he has taken in his first year and the spending of public coffers on foreign travel at an exorbitant rate in an ailing economy.

Ruto expressed that he was travelling to other countries to network, sell Kenya as a country with the potential to the global space as well as secure opportunities for Kenyans.

"When I leave Kenya, I am not going as a tourist, I am going to work for the people of Kenya because I know my responsibilities that I was voted to do," he defended.

During his visit to Germany in May, he met H.E. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Scholz in talks aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between Kenya and Germany.

In October, Ruto disclosed that during his visit to Saudi Arabia, he held talks with stakeholders aimed at finalising a deal in three weeks' time that would see 350,000 Kenyans sent to the Middle-Eastern country for jobs.

The Head of State hinted that the 350,000 jobs he is seeking in Saudi Arabia were part of a grand plan to create 2.1 million jobs he has negotiated for Kenyans in recent months.

To prove this, he shared details of his visit to the United States where he revealed that the country was ready to absorb 250,000 Kenyans into its workforce, a deal he also agreed with countries such as Germany and Canada.

On Friday, October 27, Ruto ordered the Treasury to reduce the travel budget of all government institutions to the tune of Ksh11 billion. He also denounced media reports that he reduced the budget by Ksh500 million.