Kenyan President William Ruto has defended his numerous visits abroad, saying they have benefited the country economically.

Mr Ruto has been criticised for having made the highest number of foreign trips in a year compared to any of his predecessors. Local media say he has been to 38 countries since coming to power in September 2022.

But in an address on Sunday, Mr Ruto said that through the trips, he had been able to secure jobs for Kenyans and bagged several bilateral deals aimed at opening up markets for local produce.

“There are people on my case as to why I am making foreign trips. That’s my mandate as the president. I am the chief agent of Kenya and ambassador who will plan on how the country will move forward,” Mr Ruto said at a church gathering.

The president said he secured 350,000 jobs and investment opportunities for Kenyans during recent visits to Saudi Arabia and China.

Some other countries Mr Ruto recently visited include Congo-Brazzaville, Belgium, Comoros, Netherlands and the UK.

Last week, the president announced that he had slashed the executive’s travel budget by $73m (£60m).

The privately owned Standard newspaper has described Mr Ruto as “the flying president”.