Deputy President William Ruto has been blocked from making a private visit to Uganda, his communications team has said.
"When he got to the airport, he was asked to seek clearance from Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet. We are surprised. This has never happened in the last nine years," communication secretary David Mugonyi said on Monday.
According to the government’s travel procedure, any member of the Cabinet who wishes to travel out of the country should get approval from the State House before doing so.
In what appeared to be a reaction to the cancellation, the DP took to Twitter and said, 'It is all right.'
Isorait....tumwachie MUNGU
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) August 2, 2021
The DP had reportedly contacted Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua regarding the matter but Kinyua said that he was not aware of the happenings.
Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi, who is a strong ally of Ruto's took to Facebook to express his frustration, saying he was meant to travel with the DP but ended up being kept waiting "for five hours".
“We were held for more than 5 hours at Wilson Airport together with the Deputy President William Ruto. Our flight was scheduled for mid-day but the so-called Deep State failed to clear the DP. Speaker Justin Muturi cleared us together with my colleague Ndindi Nyoro since our flight was private,” Sudi said.
He said the DP got impatient following the long wait and left the airport for his house.
“We had to wait longer than we expected until the DP became impatient and left the airport for home.”
Last month, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni invited the DP as his chief guest during the official laying of the foundation stone for a vaccine manufacturing facility.
The event took place in Matuga, Wakiso district where the construction was being done.
During the event, Ruto said that the commitment to buying locally manufactured vaccine doses at a large scale will ease African countries’ import bills, enhance their export earnings, and sustainably boost ordinary people’s health status.
Edited by CM