Narok County Senator Ledama Olekina has said it is time that Kenya learned to be independent, following freezing of United States aid.
In a statement on Wednesday, Ledama opined that there in need to realign Kenya’s existing resources and collaborate to strengthen the economy.
The senator stated that President Donald Trump is now committed to focusing on building the American economy, calling for patriotism, so Kenya can also grow hers.
“It's time to embrace independence! Let's realign our existing resources and work together to strengthen our economy,” he said.
Upon assuming office on January 20, President Trump signed the Stop-Work Order, which temporarily suspended all US foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they align with his policy goals.
The order will affect thousands on HIV treatment besides over 25,000 medics and community healthcare workers who will temporarily lose their jobs.
It will also affect over 20 million people – including in Kenya – who are supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and USAID.
On Monday, National Treasury CS John Mbadi said the government is working to finance the programmes affected by the aid freeze.
Addressing journalists in Naivasha, he stated that the development budget will be slashed to finance the programmes, adding that the country will revert to domestic financing.
"We will have no alternative but to slash part of the development budget and use the funds to finance critical programmes that will be starved of cash if the US stops foreign aid," Mbadi said.
"There is no cause for alarm as I have started to put measures in place to ensure that health programmes that depended heavily on foreign aid are not paralysed.”
He noted that health programmes such as the fight against HIV/Aids were critical to saving lives and the government will provide funding to ensure their continuity.
He noted that he was aware that the country depends on donor funding from the US on health and security programmes.
Mbaka acknowledged that the withdrawal of funding would be a big blow to such programmes.
