Ruto joins peers in Brazaville to discuss climate change
President William Ruto.
President William Ruto left the country on Friday for Brazzaville, Congo, to join other leaders from around the world at a climate conference.
The three-day UN-coordinated conference called the Summit of the Three Basins, which ends on Saturday, brings together leaders from the Congo, Amazon and Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia basins.
The summit, the first of its kind to be convened, aims to implement "the first global coalition to restore 350 million hectares of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems".
The Summit brings together Heads of State, Official Delegations, Government Representatives, International institutions, Donors, Financing Organisations, and Experts to strengthen governance for the three regulatory ecosystems, its official website says.
It adds: These regions [the three basins] alone account for 80% of the world’s tropical forests and two-thirds of terrestrial biodiversity, playing an essential role in regulating the carbon balance.
Photos shared online show President Ruto being welcomed alongside Presidents Oligui Nguema (Gabon), Embalo (Guinea Bissau) and Obiang Nguema (Equatorial Guinea).
39th trip
This is Dr Ruto's 39th foreign trip since assuming office in September last year. The President has spent over Sh56 million on travel expenses in the first half of the financial year ending June 2024.
This is double the amount spent by the same office in a similar period in 2021, and four times more than his predecessor. Prior to this trip, he had visited 45 cities in 38 countries over 83 days.
In May this year, the National Assembly's Defence Committee wanted the Budget and Appropriations Committee to allocate an additional Sh1.3 billion for Dr Ruto's globe-trotting mission after the Treasury allocated only Sh700 million.
On Thursday, Dr Ruto announced plans to cut his travel budget by up to Sh500 million. He said the money saved would be reallocated to support learners with disabilities.
