Mercy Corps Kenya (MCK) is winding up all USAID-funded contracts in Kenya in a move likely to affect hundreds of thousands of people it works with across the country.
- •Since 2008, the organisation has been partnering with Kenyan communities to promote peace and development, with its programs reaching over 905,000 people across the country.
- •Globally, the NGO previously received almost a third of its funding from USAID, and begun layoffs in early February as the US government’s freeze on foreign aid and shuttering of USAID took effect.
- •MCK has now set a deadline for the end of March for suppliers on USAID terminated program, as the ripple effects of the aid freeze continue to overhaul the NGO world.
“As you are aware Mercy Corps Kenya is largely funded and received grants from the USG Foreign Assistance Funds that include USAID,” MCK said in a communique to its vendors.
“In the backdrop of all these, we are embarking on expedited close out of all USAID terminated programmes in Kenya. We remind vendors to submit any outstanding invoice to MCK before end of March 2025. MCK will be unable to pay any outstanding payment invoices submitted after March 30,2025, for activities funded by USAID.”
In January, the Donald Trump led administration said that US foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values.
“They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries. It is the policy of United States that 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,” the White House said in a statement.
In addition to gutting down USAID, the new US administration also suspended foreign development assistance programs pending reviews within 90 days of the order.
In February, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi announced that Kenya will slash its development budget to fund critical programs affected by any freeze on US foreign aid. Mbadi stated that if US President Donald Trump follows through on his directive to suspend aid, Kenya will have to rely on domestic financing.
