In a surprising move, the United States of America’s President; Donald Trump’s latest proposed budget is said to be calling for deep cuts in the World Power’s aid to Kenya as part of an overall rollback in United States (US) funding for many of its programmes that are focused on the continent of Africa.
Under President Donald Trump’s spending plan for the United States’ (US) 2020 fiscal year (which begins next October), support for development initiatives in Kenya would fall from the $102 million (10.2 billion Kenyan shillings) provided in 2018 to $43.5 million (4.35 billion Kenyan shillings), less than half of what was provided, the year before.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference following his second summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi on Feb. 28. (Photo by Tuan Mark/Getty Images)
A similar reduction of more than 50 per cent is also expected in the United States’ (US) economic and development assistance for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. It’s assistance will be severely cut down from $1.5 billion (150.3 billion Kenyan shillings) approved by Congress for 2018 to $665 million (66.6 billion Kenyan shillings) in 2020.
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In its State Department budget proposal issued on Monday, the White House justifies these cuts as ways of “reducing dependency on the United States’ (US’) assistance and increasing self-sufficiency” on the part of African nations.
Highlighting the “Prosper Africa” plan it outlined in December, the Trump administration says it wants to “fundamentally transform the nature of our bilateral relationship with these countries from an aid-based focus to true trade partnership.”
The Health programmes in Kenya overseen by the United States’ Agency for International Development would only be allocated $54 million (5.4 billion Kenyan shillings) in the coming year, a figure which is much less than the $82 million (8.2 billion Kenyan shillings) appropriated in 2018. Even steeper reductions would be carried out on the HIV/Aids programme known as the United States’ President’s Emergency Programme for Aids Relief (Pepfar) that has saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Kenya. Mr Trump wants to allocate $276 million (27.6 billion Kenyan shillings) for this State Department-administered effort in Kenya, compared to $441 million (44.1 billion Kenyan Shillings), the US spent in 2018.
The proposed downscaling of Pepfar in Kenya will reflect the 22 per cent cut that Mr. Trump is seeking for the entire programme, which was launched in 2003. 16 years ago.
Donald Trump’s White House, also wants to end the United States’ (US) support for the African Development Bank and for the Young African Leaders Initiative that President Obama crafted to develop influential figures in the coming years.
Whether or not the proposed budget, suggesting the aid slash will be approved is not known.
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