ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
Since Kenya's William Ruto and Nigeria's Bola Tinubu became presidents, they have faced similar criticism over their frequent trips abroad.
The two men have been the
subject of unflattering descriptions - the costs associated with their alleged
penchant for air travel often contrasted with tough economic conditions at
home.
A Kenyan newspaper, the
Standard, nicknamed Mr Ruto the "Flying President". It said "so
great is his love for flying that it appears that he cannot pass up any
opportunity" despite pressing domestic demands, such as dealing with the high
cost of living.
Last month, as Mr Tinubu made
yet another trip to Europe, Nigeria's opposition leader Atiku Abubakar said on
social media that Nigeria does not need a "tourist-in-chief". He
criticised the president's private visit "while Nigeria is drowning in the
ocean of insecurity".
This in some ways can be seen
as a cheap shot, easily levelled by any critic. Presidents need to attend
heads-of-state meetings and nurture foreign relations. This is important not
only for diplomatic reasons, but also economic ones, as lucrative investment
deals can be negotiated.
But some have pointed out that
late Tanzanian President John Magufuli never travelled outside Africa in his
six years in office.
Kenyan foreign policy analyst Prof Macharia Munene acknowledges that some trips are necessary but says others are undoubtedly "wasteful".
"You have presidents who
love to be in the air... Some of these trips are personal glorifications, not
so much for the country," he told the BBC.
Mr Ruto and Mr Tinubu and
their spokespeople defend their trips as being vital to help address the very
problems they are accused of ignoring.
In the eight months since his
inauguration, Mr Tinubu has made 14 trips - an average of just under two a
month - but this is dwarfed by Mr Ruto, who has made about 50 journeys abroad
since he became president in 2022 - averaging more than three a month.
In comparison, Mr Ruto's
predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, averaged just over one foreign trip a month in his
decade in charge, similar to the record of Nigeria's previous president,
Muhammadu Buhari, although in terms of total days spent abroad, the difference
is not that much.
Other world leaders have also
notched up the air miles, but Mr Ruto and Mr Tinubu face continued questions
over whether every trip is necessary.
The Nigerian and Kenyan
leaders were both in Europe at the end of last month - Mr Ruto in Italy
attending the Italy-Africa summit while Mr Tinubu was continuing his
unexplained "private visit" to France, the third time he has been in
the country since last May. Since then, Mr Ruto has been on other trips.
In June 2023, just three weeks
after assuming office, Mr Tinubu travelled to Paris for a two-day climate
summit. He had already been there months earlier "to rest" and plan
the transition shortly after being elected president.
From Paris he went on to the
UK for private talks with his predecessor, who had also travelled to
"rest" after the elections. A week later, Mr Tinubu went to
Guinea-Bissau for a meeting of West African bloc Ecowas, followed by a trip to
Nairobi.
In August he visited Benin,
and in September India, the United Arab Emirates and the US for the UN General
Assembly before returning to Paris.
He was home for the whole of
October before resuming travels with a trip to Saudi Arabia, then Guinea-Bissau
and Germany at the end of November and a week later travelled to Dubai.
The Nigerian presidency has
said the trips are important for attracting foreign investment.
"On every foreign trip I
have embarked on, my message to investors and other business people has been
the same. Nigeria is ready and open for business," President Tinubu said
in his 2024 New Year message.
Mr Ruto's travel schedule
since his inauguration in 2022 has been even more hectic.
Between September of that year
and last December he had travelled abroad at least twice every month. In May
2023 he made five trips. He has travelled to various African countries, Europe
and the US for global events and bilateral meetings.
Kenya's President William Ruto
(R) was one of Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's guests as she hosted a
summit of African leaders
This year, in January, he has
been in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Italy. And already this
month, Mr Ruto has been to Japan and the UAE.
There is not just the question
of frequency, but also the question of cost.
Mr Tinubu is said to have
spent at least 3.4bn naira ($2.2m; £1.8m) on domestic and foreign travel in the
first six months of his presidency - 36% more than the budgeted amount for
2023, the Nigerian newspaper Punch reported, citing GovSpend, a civic tech
platform that tracks government spending.
In Kenya, the Controller of
Budget, an independent office that oversees government spending, showed a
significant increase in the office of the president's travel expenditure in the
year to July last year - which included nine months of Mr Ruto's presidency.
Overall spending for both
domestic and foreign travel for the year was over 1.3bn Kenyan shillings
($9.2m; £7.3m), exceeding the travel budget for the previous year by more than
30%.
The Kenyan government spokesman did not respond to the BBC's questions about Mr Ruto's trips, though the president and the spokesman have often justified them.
Mr Ruto himself has said he
does not "travel like a tourist" and the trips are necessary to get
foreign investment and create employment for Kenyans abroad - he recently said
he had secured more than 300,000 job opportunities through negotiations.
After the recent trip to
Japan, Mr Ruto said he had secured deals worth more than $2.3bn.
Malawi's President Lazarus
Chakwera was in Saudi Arabia in November shortly before halting all foreign
trips
While stressing the benefits
of the presidential trips, both Nigeria and Kenya have also taken some action
to counter the criticism of government employees travelling abroad.
Kenya said it had cut its
civil service travel budget by 50% in the wake of accusations of
"wastage" on domestic and foreign trips. But this does not seem to
have affected the president himself, who has said he will not shun trips as
long as they are beneficial.
Last month, the Nigerian president announced a reduction in the official travel delegation by about 60%. The directive announced by his spokesman Ajuri Ngelale included cutting down the president's own travel entourage, but did not say whether he would cut the number of his trips.
Yet is not just Kenya and
Nigeria where the cost of travel has been a concern.
As Congolese citizens prepared
to go the polls last year, one of the criticisms of President FĂ©lix Tshisekedi
was the number of trips he had made, with allegations that there was little to
show for it.
Last November, Malawian
President Lazarus Chakwera suspended all international travel for himself and
his ministers, and ordered all those abroad to return due to the economic
problems the country was facing.
Some other countries that have
also had to address travel spending by government officials since last year
include Uganda, The Gambia, Namibia and Sierra Leone, with the leaders of the
latter two labelled by local newspapers the "flying president" - just
like Kenya's Mr Ruto.
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