Kenya has expressed concern over US President Donald Trump’s move to freeze foreign aid.
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei in a post on X said the announcement to pause US foreign assistance will “unfortunately impair the ability of many African countries to meet health and other targets and undermine the realization of SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals]”.
“We hope President Trump’s administration will provide new pathways for cushioning most vulnerable populations,” Korir added.
Equally, he said, African states must rise up to the challenge and seize the opportunity to wean themselves from external dependency.
Soon after his inauguration, President Trump signed numerous executive orders, one of which suspended aid to “foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organisations, international organisations, and contractors” pending review for whether it aligns with “American interests and … values”.
The executive order said there would be “no further [US] foreign assistance disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States”.
AIDS SUPPORT
US foreign assistance includes the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, which has saved millions of lives since it was launched in 2003 by former President George W. Bush.
As of 2024, PEPFAR statistics show it was providing antiretroviral treatment to nearly 21-million people across 55 countries, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
“PEPFAR is also delivering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — which stops people from contracting HIV — to about 2.5 million people. In 2024, PEPFAR provided HIV testing to about 84-million people. It funds HIV treatment and intervention in Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and many others,” European Aids Treatment says.
Trumps order has also left counterterrorism training in Somalia, narcotics interdiction in Colombia, prosthetics for refugees from Myanmar, and many more US-funded overseas assistance programs in sudden limbo, according to WSJ report.
Already, some US aid-funded projects in Kenya have been suspended, with staffers directed to proceed on leave until further communication.
In the US, the Trump administration has already put about 60 USAid officials on leave after the aid freeze.
LEADERS’ REACTION
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has voiced his concerns over the freeze, calling for “additional exemptions to be considered to ensure the continued delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities for the most vulnerable communities around the world”.
The head of the World Food Program in Afghanistan, Hsiao-Wei Lee, on Monday said the agency can only feed half the millions of Afghans in need after cuts in international aid and an impending freeze in US foreign funding.
Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, has also warned of major consequences for people with HIV if Trump cuts funding to programmes such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund.
“I’m scared, I’m worried that people may die. For us in health, American money is so important to keep people alive. We are really watching and crossing our fingers and hoping that America will not make any sudden withdrawal from its support in the global HIV response,” Byanyima told Devex.
In her congratulatory message to Trump, Byanyima had urged the US President continue “the strong leadership of the United States of America in the global AIDS response”.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States of America has the opportunity to accelerate the global HIV response and end AIDS by 2030,” she said.
