US President Donald Trump has ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance pending assessments of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy.
The Executive Order issued hours after his swearing-in on Monday, January 20, will impact Kenya, which is among countries that depend on aid from the US.
The order, among many Trump signed on his first day back in the office, said "the foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values" and "serve to destabilise world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries." "All department and agency heads responsible for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds," read the executive order signed by Trump. Adding, "no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States." President Donald Trump.
File White House did not clarify how broad the order was and what programs, countries, non-governmental organisations, and international organisations would be affected by the move.
