A massacre is not necessarily committed with knives.
A consignment of HIV test kits, reagents, and ARVs arrived in Kenya via United States Aid Development Agency (USAID), a global foreign aid giant, in late 2020.
The Kenyan government planned to use the distribution channels, known to the USAID which are commonly responsible for the distribution of these HIV/AIDS interventions to ensure public hospitals receive the medicine. However, six months later, in April 2021, the Kenyan media reports a national shortage of HIV test kits and ARVs – both critically necessary to addressing the HIV situation in Kenya.
The blame games start
On one hand, the Kenyan government accused USAID of imposing a new unapproved distribution channel. (Watch here). On the other hand, USAID wanted Chemonics International, a private company, to distribute the aid consignment. In retaliation, the Kenyan government demands taxes from Chemonics International for such commercial transactions. Notwithstanding the critical need for the consignment in HIV/AIDs intervention in the country, USAID refused to compromise or acquiesce to any of the Kenyan government’s request.
Unable to confront the USAID, the Kenyan government resorts to chest-thumping and threatens to spur local manufacturing of ARVs and other medications – a threat not likely taken seriously given infrastructural and capacity deficiencies to undertake such a complex endeavor. Of course, only time will tell. However, the debacle between USAID and the Kenyan government indicates a ‘bullying aid’ trend, whereby international bodies and organizations systematically exploit financial, and governmental weaknesses in Kenya, indifferent to how their actions affect the people they claim to serve.
The root of the matter
Data from the Brookings Institution, a public health policy organization based in Washington DC shows donors account for 90% of the funds Kenya uses to fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis. In fact, the US, contributes 62% of these funds on average. Understandably, the Kenyan government cannot bite the hand that feeds it. However, under international law, USAID and other aid organizations have obligations to follow strict guidelines in offering humanitarian assistance. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in this article, states “the denial of humanitarian assistance is defined as follows: a situation where, as a result of the intentional behavior of certain persons, humanitarian assistance does not reach its intended beneficiaries”. The USAID justifies withholding aid to Kenya on grounds of corruption in Kenya’s health ministry. In all fairness, USAID concerns about corruption are not unfounded. However, corruption in Kenya is not new. While accountability and transparency are non-negotiable; saving human lives is paramount.
Blatant Exploitation
Global Fund, a key healthcare facilitator in Kenya and Africa, blacklisted Chemonics International for fraud and invoice inflation in Nigeria. The Kenyan government raised the issue but, USAID stood its ground and refused to consider alternatives to Chemonics. Their way or the highway. Even before the avoidable shortage of life-saving medicine, the Kenyan government reported 6,806 babies were born with HIV in 2020. Additionally, out of the 106,807 Kenyan children under the age of 14 currently living with HIV, only 72,968 are on medication. Sadly, a bulk of the consignment withheld by USAID primarily consisted of sweetened medication for such children. According to the Red Cross, when foreign aid does not reach the intended recipients on time, it often leads to a deterioration in the living conditions of the affected civilians. (Watch here). Who fights for such children? Do USAID and the Kenyan government fully realize the consequences of their actions or inactions?
Bullying and indifference to the plight of aid recipients from USAID does not address corruption in the Kenyan government. Kenyan media pulled down reports of outdated medication being given to HIV/AIDS patients. The government vehemently denied the reports. That is beside the point. Lives were risked, and USAID contravened international humanitarian assistance guidelines. The imbalance of power between the Kenyan government and powerful foreign aid providers such as USAID prevents any further actions from being taken.
Radical shift
Some countries lack inadequate structures such as media to highlight such issues. A short-term view of this debacle robs people in need of such aid, past, and future, the right to live a dignified life if the aid doesn’t reach them on time with such clear power imbalances. It further complicates and strains future relations between aid organizations and host countries. Powerful donor organizations wield disproportional power in most developing countries. Developing countries must strengthen their governmental structures, prudently use resources and try to wean themselves off donor dependence for basic rights such as healthcare. International humanitarian laws are not suggestions and donors must uphold them while dealing with all aid-recipient countries, bearing in mind potential consequences to the intended beneficiaries.
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