After 43 foreign visits since taking office, President Kenyatta faces (hilarious) backlash

A summit in South Africa, a climate change conference in France, followed by a Commonwealth meeting in Malta, and all in the space of the last week. (We know what you’re thinking. But, it’s not his travel itinerary.) This particular itinerary feeds into a grand total of 43 foreign visits funded by the tax-payer. (No, it’s really not him!) [caption id=“attachment_2537160” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of President Uhuru Kenyatta. Reuters[/caption] After embarking on 43 foreign visits in three years since taking office, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta (we told you it wasn’t him) has found himself at the centre of a storm of ridicule, criticism and contempt. So much so that the hashtag #UhuruInKenya has gone viral, as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the time the president actually spends in the country.  The Daily Nation reports that in comparison, his predecessor Mwai Kibaki made a grand total of 33 foreign visits in the decade that he was President of Kenya. Along with the time spent away from Nairobi tending to domestic affairs — not limited to poverty and a decades-long corruption crisis — what is also catching the eye is the cost of these visits. According to a report in Business Daily Africa , Kenyatta’s visits between July 2014 and June 2015 have cost tax-payers around Sh1.2 billion (around $11.8 million) out of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget of Sh1.57 billion (around $15.3 million) for foreign travel. Unsurprisingly then, National Treasury Cabinet secretary Henry Rotich last month issued a circular to all ministries and departments banning non-essential foreign travel by public officers. It also proposed cuts on the expenses of breakfast meetings, office furniture, printing and advertising.  Rotich said at the time, “We need to bear in mind that our economy is still reeling from negative impacts of global economic crisis, travel advisories which have severely affected the tourism sector, weather vagaries, terrorism threats and increased pressure on expenditure.” Naturally, Kenyatta’s office issued a clarification on Sunday, with spokesman Manoah Espisu listing the benefits of the president’s globetrotting. Grants, zero-interest loans, concessional financing and commercial loans worth a total of $60 billion from China, a $200-million agreement between Kenya and the World Bank for clean water in Mombasa and all manner of assurances for infrastructure projects were wheeled out. As was a list of MoUs, agreements and pacts. However, until these promises actually fructify, it appears the classification of Kenyatta as a ‘visiting president’ is unlikely to go away any time soon. Here’s what Kenya’s Twitterati make of their president’s travels:

To reiterate, that backlash came from 43 foreign visits in three-years. We imagine Kenyatta must now be asking himself the following question: