Ruto fights back on luxury jet claims

By Ally Jamah

Nairobi, Kenya: Deputy President William Ruto’s has released the official quotations of the charter planes that had offered to fly him to three nations in West and Central Africa to prove he took the cheapest option of Sh18.5 million and saved taxpayers’ money.

His office released quotations from Vistajet, the successful bidder, as well as those of Lady Lori Kenya Ltd, and ABM Aviation, with the last two charging slightly more money for the flights.

Earlier, media reports had claimed that the Deputy President had used the plane which had been hired in a one-year contract that would cost the country at least Sh100 million.

Quotations showed that Vistajet charging Sh18.5 million (US$221,000) for the round trip inclusive of taxes, while Lady Lori Kenya was charging Sh19.7 million (US$234,866) minus VAT and fees.

ABM Aviation on the other hand quoted Sh19.2 million (US$231,490) minus VAT and fees.

Best value

A statement from the DP’s office said that the committee organising the trips recommended that the aircraft charter services be provided by the Lowest bidding Vista Jet East Africa.

“Further, the aircraft provided by E-ADC Vista Jet EA Company had comparatively better security requirement and safety features therefore providing the best value at the lowest cost for the trip,” said the statement.

The statement further indicated that the plane the DP used  was not as luxurious as indicated by media reports.

They insisted that the plane didn’t have a bed, meeting room or shower, contrary to photos and videos used in advertising the plane.

However, a close scrutiny of the invoices indicated that the successful bidder had only quoted to fly to three destinations rather than four that were contained in the quotations of ABM and Lady Lori.

Vistajet had quoted to fly from Nairobi to Congo Brazzaville, Libreville (Gabon), Abuja (Nigeria) before returning to Nairobi.

Falcon 900

The other two invoices quoted their price on the basis that they would be flying to an additional destination, in this case Algeria, before returning to Nairobi after a refueling stop in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum.

According to ABM invoice, the company was to use a Falcon 900 and it reserved the right to increase the cost of the price if more hours were spent on air due to the weather.

The flight time would be twenty four and a half hours. The figure included Sh278,000 ( $3,350) for landing and navigation as well as Sh440,000 (US$5,500) for clearance and handling. It also included airport tax of Sh468,000 (US$5,640) and night stop of Sh871,500 (US$10,500).

The company reserved the right to increase the price if the flight took longer than planned owing to weather conditions.  

The third company that had offered to fly the DP was Lady Lori Kenya Ltd, which had quoted US$234,865 (Sh19.7 million) including Sh16.2 million (US$195,722) for the actual flight, Sh2.5 million (US$31,315) for VAT and Sh649,000 (US$7,828) for Airport landing and navigation fees.

Crew accommodation, meals, transfers and security for the duration of the charter was to be paid by the client. A 100% deposit was to be required at the time of confirmation. The crew were entitled to Sh16,600 (US$200) per night.

Fast-tracked

All the invoice were drawn up on 15th and 16th May, indicating that the whole process was fast-tracked since the Deputy President left the country on the same day.

Monday, Principal Secretary in the Information Ministry Bitange Ndemo insisted that the plane was not hired in a one year contract but was just for a one-off trip.