‘He has no reason to give you anything’ – Uhuru tells African leaders complaining after Trump stopped aid
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Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta has challenged African leaders to stop complaining after US President Donald Trump stopped foreign aid to low and middle-income countries.
Speaking during the inaugural East Africa Region Global Health Security Summit in Mombasa on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, Uhuru challenged the leaders to stop wastage of the funds they get.
“I saw some people the other day crying that Trump has removed funding. It is not your government, it’s not your country. He has no reason to give you anything. You don’t pay taxes in America. He is appealing to his people. This is a wake-up call for you to say ‘okay, what are we going to do for ourselves’,” he said.
According to Uhuru, African leaders have been spending the resources they have on the wrong things, including funding unnecessary wars and fights.
“Nobody is going to continue holding a hand out there to give you (money). It is time for us to use our resources for the right things. We are the ones using them for the wrong things. The bullets and the guns we buy we are not given for free. We buy them. And we are not buying them to go and fight wars off our shores. We are fighting our own people. Brother killing sister, sister killing brother over stupid things,” he added.
Trump freezes foreign aid
Immediately after being sworn into office, Trump ordered a three-month pause on almost all foreign development assistance pending a review to see what fits in with the president’s “America First” policy.
VOA reports that in the 2023 fiscal year, the US spent just short of $70 billion on development aid, most of it through the US Agency for International Development, or USAID.
Within hours of taking office last week, President Donald Trump put all but the most urgently needed food assistance on hold, part of his charge to realign the nation’s foreign stance with his America First policy. His executive order pauses new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds for 90 days while they are reviewed.
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Francis Muli
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