By Ebi Kesiena
President William Ruto has announced plans to start daily flights to Isiolo County in the next two months.
Isiolo is a town in Isiolo County, of which it is the capital. It is located in the upper eastern region of Kenya and is geographically considered the center of the country Kenya. It lies 285 kilometers north of the capital Nairobi
Speaking on Sunday, Ruto said he is in talks with private sector players to have the Isiolo airport start operating flights to Nairobi.
He said this will save a lot of time for residents and business people traveling to Nairobi and back.
“When people leave here for Nairobi they take five hours. I am in talks with the private sector people so that in the next two months we have flights to take you to Nairobi. It will only take 30 minutes from here to Nairobi,” Ruto said.
President Ruto also announced plans to extend the Isiolo airport runway to allow planes to carry enough luggage.
According to Ruto, a lot of taxpayer money was spent on its construction but it now sits like a monument due to the way the runway was built.
“This is your airport, a lot of money has been spent on its construction but it has stalled. There is nothing, it’s like a monument. I have agreed that we will extend the runway so that planes can carry enough luggage. The engineers have said there is a problem which we will correct so that it can be used for the intended purpose,” the president said.
He insisted that it is his intention to make Isiolo airport a foreign exchange earner for the country, with the export of meat.
“This airport should have been the one used to transport Miraa (Khat) to outside countries… I also want this airport to be used to export meat from Isiolo, Northern Kenya, and other parts of the country to Oman and other countries.”
