Thread by @mmnjug

#HarambeeOne, Kenya’s 30-year-old Presidential jet that has flown four Heads of State, is in the Netherlands for what will be its final maintenance before being retired and replaced by a newer model.

Defence CS Soipan Tuya has confirmed that the aircraft will be in warehouses owned by Fokker Services Group – the firm that manufacturers spare parts for the Fokker brand – for one year for its last maintenance.

fokkerservicesgroup.com

Fokker Services Group has advised that #HarambeeOne be retired, as maintenance for the nearly outdated plane is no longer feasible. The plan is to have it back one last time before a decision is made on getting a replacement.

“For now it (Presidential jet) is out of the country for maintenance for one year. We expect it back in 2026,” Ms Tuya told @NationAfrica in a phone interview on Friday, adding that spare parts for such older models have become unsustainably expensive.

The advice from Fokker Services Group has forced the Defence ministry to start planning for replacing an airplane Kenya bought in 1996, during the reign of President Daniel Arap Moi.

We do not have any concrete plans right now on buying a new plane. We are using different options like other VIP aircraft from Kenya Air Force, commercial flights like @KenyaAirways and sometimes chartering. Those short term arrangements are not sustainable - CS Tuya

Ms Tuya said the procurement of a new presidential jet could be done in the next two years, depending on several factors, including availability of funds in the military budget.

In 2020, President Kenyatta had proposed that the aircraft be replaced, and then the Covid-19 pandemic struck, changing priorities for Kenya and most countries in the world. But this time it appears there is even more limited time to make a decision.

A KDF aviation expert, who spoke in confidence, told @NationAfrica that #HarambeeOne’s multiple mechanical issues have interfered with the president’s travel plans on several occasions, and become a safety concern despite efforts of KDF Air Force engineers tasked with maintaining

He said a newer model is inevitable, and that even after #HarambeeOne’s return next year, President Ruto may on some occasions have to use commercial flights or, at times, charter aircraft until a new presidential jet is procured and commissioned.

The military aviation expert said that #HarambeeOne’s ageing signs have been visible to those that operate or use it, especially in the past year with multiple mishaps both in Kenyan and foreign airspace.

The mishaps have at times forced KDF to offer alternative aircraft to Ruto. The situation means the president will in the intervening period rely on either KQ or hire private jets to attend to international obligations like recently happened when he was in Ethiopia.

The use of private jets, including when he travelled to Washington for a high-profile visit at the invitation of then President Joe Biden in 2024, has always attracted controversy with some questioning the exorbitant costs.

Ruto later said the private jet had been paid for by his friends before the State House communication team later clarified it was offered by the UAE government.

bbc.com/news/articles/…

However, it appears the President and his team have been uncomfortable about the plane. At the end of a Joint Summit of EAC) and SADC on 8th February 8, 2025, the attending Heads of State begun to depart Dar-es-Salaam for their home countries.

President William Ruto had co-chaired the joint summit with Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa. For such high level gatherings, protocol dictates that Presidents leave in the same order that they arrived in.

By that protocol, Ruto should have boarded #HarambeeOne – a 30-year-old Fokker 70 Extended Range (ER) that uses the call sign Kenya 01 – at around 5pm, and departed the Julius Nyerere International Airport before Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

But #HarambeeOne triggered a protocol hiccup when it developed mechanical problems and could not take off.
As engineers worked to get Harambee One in shape for its umpteenth trip back home, President Ruto watched his Somalia counterpart and other Heads of State jump the queue.

More than two hours later, there was no sign that the aircraft would be fit for the skies, forcing Kenyan and Tanzanian officials to resolve that President Ruto and his team spend another night in Dar-es-Salaam.

The Kenya Air Force, which is tasked with the President’s air travel, was forced to dispatch another aircraft from Nairobi to ensure that Dr Ruto and his team could leave for Nairobi the following morning.

The mishap meant an extra spending, including fuel for the Kenya Air Force’s Dash-8 plane that flew from Nairobi that evening.

During a trip to Switzerland, Harambee One’s hydraulic system developed a leak after taking off from Nairobi. The Kenya Air Force pilots were forced to make an emergency landing in Cairo to avoid any potential disaster.

The confidential @NationAfrica source added that the aircraft has a faulty airframe – the structure that everything else attaches to – causing the door to jam on multiple occasions.
“It is no longer airworthy or economically viable,” he said.

With other countries and institutions upgrading their aircraft fleet, spare parts for older models such as Fokker 70 ER have become more expensive and harder to source as the manufacturer prioritises producing parts for newer models which are larger in number across the world.

Harambee One first touched down in Nairobi in December, 1995, barely three months before the Dutch manufacturer Fokker collapsed.

Fokker Services Group was later incorporated to produce spare parts and maintenance of aircraft that many countries, companies and airlines had already purchased before it buckled.
Since then, Harambee One has flown Presidents Moi, Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta and now Ruto.

The Fokker 70 ER was designed for short-haul flights. The first of its kind was made in 1993, and Kenya got in line for its own. The Dutch manufacturer only managed to produce 47 of them before going bankrupt in March, 1996.

It boasts of two Rolls Royce-manufactured engines and has a cruise speed of up to 845 kilometres per hour. The regular Fokker 70 could travel up to 3,400 kilometres without refueling.

The extended range models, such as Harambee One, can do 3,850 kilometres. That puts them in the short-haul flights category. Flying further would mean regular refueling stops, which means more costs.

When flying far, President Ruto and his predecessors use Harambee One to get to Dubai, and then board another flight to their destination.

#HarambeeOne, Kenya's Presidential Jet is in the Netherlands for one final maintenance before retiring as its mishaps and lack of spares become a security concern...

nation.africa/kenya/news/fin…