Mutula urges President Ruto to negotiate transition plan with Trump » Capital News
NAIROBI,Kenya,Feb 6—Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior has called on the Kenya to engage the U.S. administration diplomatically and negotiate a transition plan following the decision by President Donald Trump to freeze foreign aid.
Speaking Thursday, Governor Mutula stated that the move would give Kenya room to find alternative funding for the affected programs.
The Makueni County boss described the freeze on programs especially in the health sector, as a “national crisis that must be dealt with immediately.”
“The National government has to find a diplomatic method with the President of America and the American administration to have a transition,that transition will save lives and give us an opportunity as a country to find another method,” he said.
He expressed deep concern over the fate of critical health programs, including those tackling tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS, which heavily rely on USAID funding.
While the government has assured that Kenya has enough stock of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for the next 15 months, Mutula warned that there is no clear transitional plan for what will happen after that period.
“A huge population on all these counties are dependent on these drugs and I am extremely worried that in the absence of those drugs we are going to start losing people,the stigma that had gone away will come back and more importantly because of the statistics that I have seen in Makueni,teenage infections between the age of 24 and 35 have increased tremendously,” he added.
Mutula further warned that over 54,000 Kenyans could lose their jobs as a result of the funding freeze.
He added that some health facilities including those in Makueni, may be forced to shut down due to staff shortages.
“A host of hospitals, some in Makueni will most likely close because they are losing upto 10 members of staff or nurses that were under the American program,” he said.
The governor also pointed to the backlash in the U.S., where both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have protested the decision to cut USAID funding.
He singled out a statement by a Republican senator who revealed that she was once a refugee and a beneficiary of USAID, emphasizing that U.S. taxpayers should have a say in how their money is spent.
“If they [US Senators] are saying that, we should speak even louder and say that it is against human rights to withdraw such services without notice,” he asserted.