US Funded Programmes Will Not Halt Due to Withdrawal of Foreign Aid – CS Mbadi Assures Kenyans

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has said the budget for development will be slashed to finance programmes that will be affected by the freeze on foreign aid.

Mbadi told journalists in Naivasha that should the US President Donald Trump make good his directive to freeze foreign aid to various programmes in Kenya, 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,” said Mbadi.

The CS who spoke after attending the the Mid-term National Assembly retreat added: “There is no cause for alarm as I have started to put measures in place to ensure that health programmes that depended heavily of foreign aid are not paralysed.”

He noted that the health programmes such as HIV were critical to saving lives and the government will provide funding to ensure their continuity.

The CS however pointed out that the government was still awaiting official communication from America on freezing of the foreign aid.

“President Trump took the action immediately he assumed office and it is normal for that to happen during a change of regime in any country,” he added.

Mbadi noted that he was aware that the country depends on donor funding from the US on health and security programmes.

He acknowledged that withdrawal of funding would be a big blow to such programmes.

On assuming office late last month, President Trump signed the Stop-Work Order.

This action temporarily suspended all US foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they align with his policy goals.

In Kenya, Trump’s Order will affect thousands on HIV treatment besides over 25,000 medics and community healthcare workers who will temporarily lose their jobs.

President Trump’s order will affect over 20 million people – including in Kenya – who are supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and USAID.

The sentiments by the Finance CS come days after the Ministry of Health assured Kenyans of sufficient HIV commodity stocks for six months.

The Ministry also said it is actively engaging other development partners, international agencies and private sector stakeholders for alternative funding and supply of essential medicines to fill in gaps resulting from the Stop-Work Order.

The Order was among 78 other executive actions, including US withdrawal from membership of the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of a broader freeze on nearly all US global health funding.

“We have sufficient stock of HIV commodities be it antiretrovirals or testing commodities,” said Director General for Health, Dr Patrick Amoth at an earlier presser.

Dr Amoth also appealed to Kenyans on HIV treatment to access medication saying there is adequate medicine in store and the healthcare workers to provide that service.

In Kenya, the most affected are the over 1.2 million people currently on treatment, 1,952 doctors and clinical officers, 1,234 nurses and midwives, 578 laboratory staff, 340 pharmacists, and 24,577 community healthcare workers.

The order will also affect pregnant women and babies at risk of acquiring HIV through Mother-to-Child transmission.

According to data from the PEPFAR Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Database (MER), the organisation is currently providing ARV treatment to 679,936 pregnant women living with HIV both for their health and to prevent transmission to their children.

The Treasury Cabinet Secretary however noted that it was important for the country going forward to break the dependency on donor funding for critical programs.