How Trump Executive Order Stopping Foreign Aid Will Affect Kenya

US President Donald Trump has temporarily suspended all foreign assistance for a period of 90 days pending reviews.

In an Executive Order signed on his first day in office on Monday, Trump stated that the decision is to allow his administration to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.

According to Trump, the US foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases contrary to American values.

“They serve to destabilise world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries,” the executive order reads in part.

“It is the policy of United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States,” it adds.

It was not immediately clear how much assistance is going to be affected by the order.

Funding for many programmes has already been appropriated by the Congress and is obligated to be spent if not already spent.

Trump stated that no further US foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.

The move is likely to put many countries across the world including Kenya at risk of having ongoing programmes in various sectors stall.

Such programmes spread various sectors of health, security and agriculture among others are also likely to face funding cuts with most US-funded NGOs being forced to bear the brunt.

Israel, Jordan and Egypt are among the top recipients of US foreign aid receiving Sh429 billion, Sh221 billion and Sh195 billion yearly respectively.

US government-driven assistance contributes approximately Sh208 billion annually to the Kenyan economy.

This includes (Sh130 billion) in direct bilateral and multilateral assistance per year on average, as well as Sh88.1 billion in indirect contributions from supportive policies.

About 20 US agencies and departments have directly contributed to Kenya’s growth and development since 2001.

They include the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which spearheads US bilateral efforts in agriculture and food security, education and health.

It has also been supporting devolution, peacebuilding, environment, and sustained economic growth.

According to Associated Press, the last official accounting for foreign shows that in the budget year 2023 to mid-December last year, Sh8.8 trillion had been obligated for various programmes in 204 countries and regions.