A tweet by renowned blogger and digital strategist Dennis Itumbi about a helicopter reportedly belonging to Deputy President William Ruto has become a subject of online talk.
On Monday, the DP used his private chopper to visit victims of West Pokot landslides and upon arrival, he availed it for use by doctors and nurses attending to residents affected by Saturday's tragedy.
"DP William Ruto airlifting medical personnel to the affected sites in West Pokot," tweeted Itumbi, uploading a photo of doctors boarding a grey and black chopper.
The post attracted mixed reactions, but notably it was the varying figures that netizens quoted as the value of helicopter.
Renowned blogger and columnist Gabriel Oguda claimed the aircraft is worth Sh5 billion and challenged the DP to use some of his billions to assist victims of West Pokot tragedy.
"Chief, Itumbi, your boss flew to Kapenguria on a personal chopper worth the annual budget of West Pokot County. He walks around with sacks of money bribing church leaders and politicians. If he can buy a 5B chopper with public money, he surely can spare 2B for flood relief," Oguda tweeted.
Former presidential candidate Mohammed Abduba Dida claimed the chopper is worth almost one billion and wondered how Ruto acquired it.
"The DP is flying a H145 Airbus Helicopter! The price is $9,697,000 or Ksh 992,487,950. That is equivalent to building 28 Mbagathi Girls High schools from scratch! The DP would have to sell 6 million chickens to buy that helicopter! Or, he would need to work as a DP for 56 yrs!" Dida said.
On his part, ODM Director of Communications Philip Etale observed that the helicopter must be a very expensive asset.
"The cost of that chopper is enough to sort out all the problems the people of West Pokot and other flood prone areas are facing. Let's tell each other the truth (Tuamniane Ukweli jameni)," Etale posted.
Ruto is among few Kenyans who own private planes and has been using it to crisscross the country ahead of the 2022 general election.