President William Ruto is using his trip to the United States to scout for a buyer of government’s stake in the national airliner,Kenya Airways.

Ruto is this week expected to make a pitch to sell a controlling stake in Kenya Airways to US investors.

This, he says is a sure path of returning the struggling airline to profitability.

Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen says the search for strategic partners for Kenya Airways tops the list of Ruto’s trip to America.

Kenya is keen on getting a cash-rich foreign airline as a strategic investor.

The plan will offer the national carrier aviation expertise and cut its reliance on Treasury for operational cash.

“We are doing everything possible to ensure that we no longer subsidise the airline and that is why we are looking for a strategic partner,” said Murkomen.

“Even on the President’s trip to the US, one of the topics for discussion is how to get a strategic partner for Kenya Airways,” .

The  deal would see the State cut its shareholding from 48.9 per cent and reduce the ownership of lenders who converted their debt to a 38 per cent stake.

Trip keen on getting investor

CS  Murkomen notes that the State is seeking a fresh equity investor who is expected to inject capital and offer management expertise in the next step of restructuring.

Over the past few years,KQ has received multi-billion shilling State bailouts amid but has struggled yo take off from loss making streaks that have bedeviled it.

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The government seems to have  dropped the plan of nationalisation the airline.

Parliament had in July 2019 approved the plan which would have led to the delisting of the airline from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

KQ reported a ninth consecutive half-year loss, with a Sh15 billion deep dive into a negative equity position.

The government in 1995 sold a 26 per cent stake in KQ to Dutch airline KLM and sold a further 22 per cent stake to local shareholders through an initial public offering at the Nairobi bourse in 1996.

The deal offered KLM seats on the KQ board, the right to appoint certain executives, in particular the CFO, and act as the technical partner for the national carrier.