Some Kenyans have lampooned President William Ruto over the charter of a Dubai-owned RoyalJet luxury plane to the United States.

The outage comes amid anger over the government’s plans to impose additional taxes, with Mr Ruto urging Kenyans to live within their means.

The residents said Mr Ruto should have used his usual presidential plane for the trip to America, given his government’s austerity measures and the cost of living crisis.

Kenya’s private KTN TV station estimated the price of hiring the luxury private jet in which he and his delegation travelled to be $1.5 million.

The ‘tax collector’ president’s decision has sparked anger among Kenyans even though the government has defended the cost of Mr Ruto’s trip to the U.S.

“The benefits from this visit far outweigh such a million times,” government spokesman Isaac Mwaura told the BBC without revealing the cost.

More than 30 people, including a popular comedian, reportedly accompanied Mr Ruto, who landed in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday.

It is unclear why the president opted for the private jet, but there have been safety concerns about the usual presidential plane, Harambee One, which was bought nearly 30 years ago.

The U.S. government denied reports that it had paid for the aircraft Mr Ruto and his delegation used.

“Just to be clear, the United States of America did not pay for President Ruto’s jet to the U.S.,” a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, told journalists.