Hon. Jaohet Nyakundi, a Member of Parliament for Kitutu Chache has raised a red flag over the safety of President William Ruto, calling for the immediate retirement of the presidential aircraft from active service and urging that the matter be treated as an urgent security priority.
The MP specifically flagged the 70-year-old aircraft and the 1995 Fokker that have been part of Kenya’s presidential fleet, arguing that planes of that age have no business carrying the head of state on official duties.
The concerns being raised are not trivial. Aviation experts have long pointed out that ageing aircraft carry significantly higher maintenance demands and increased risk of mechanical failure compared to modern fleets.
When the passenger in question is the President of the Republic, the threshold for acceptable risk should be as close to zero as possible.
The MP framed his call not as a political attack but as a matter of national interest and presidential security, saying plainly that President Ruto’s safety and wellbeing must always come first.
He acknowledged the political dimension of his concern with a touch of party loyalty, invoking the Kenya Kwanza rallying phrase and saying that Kenya needs the President for the TUTAM agenda, essentially arguing that losing Ruto to an aviation incident would be a national catastrophe.
The call for the retirement of Harambe One is not new. The debate about upgrading Kenya’s presidential fleet has surfaced periodically over the years without resulting in decisive action. The ageing aircraft has continued to ferry the President on both local and regional trips despite concerns about its condition.
Whether this latest call from within the ruling party’s own ranks will finally push the government to act on the matter remains to be seen.