Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo on Thursday aimed a subtle dig at former President Uhuru Kenyatta after the former Head of State's viral comments on the US's withdrawal of foreign aid.
Uhuru earned plaudits in the United States, including from Elon Musk, after openly faulting African nations for decrying Trump's executive orders on foreign aid. According to Uhuru, the new US President had no obligation to use American taxes to offer Kenya (and Africa) financial aid.
"I saw some people the other day crying that Trump has removed funding; that he is not giving us any more money. Why are you crying, it is not your government, not your country. He has no reason to give you anything," Uhuru said on January 29.
These comments have since ignited debate with Kilonzo being among the latest leaders to weigh in on the US Agency for International Development (USAID) issue.
"I disagree entirely with Uhuru Kenyatta," the governor said. "Because if that was his thought when he was President of Kenya, he should have said what he said when he was in office."
The governor further claimed that the former Head of State was laughing at Kenyans whilst programmes like USAID were active when Uhuru was still President.
"He was laughing at people he used to serve. This is a matter of concern, health is a big issue and as a nation, we must come together to discuss matters of health," the governor went on.
Dig Deeper: Trump's administration recently claimed some programmes the US was involved in were wasting money, and there was a need to align programmes like the USAID needed to align with the president’s policy priorities.
Founded in 1961, USAID has a budget of KSh 5.1 trillion (USD40billion) per year - a figure that amounts to an average of 0.6% of federal spending,
A ripple effect of this has been USAID announcing that “direct-hire personnel” would be placed on leave starting Friday night. It however remains unclear which jobs will be affected
With USAID providing humanitarian assistance to more than 100 countries, at least 10,000 people worldwide employed by the agency in different capacities now have their sources of livelihood at risk.
According to Kilonzo, a minimum of 259 workers from his county are expected to be impacted by job losses following the recent directive issued by the former U.S. President.
