Kenya in Line to Get US Aid for Anti-Graft War

A top official of a special US development programme is scheduled to visit Kenya next week for talks that could culminate in the country receiving aid worth billions of shillings to fight corruption.
 
Sean Cairncross, the CEO of the US Millennium Development Corporation (MCC) this week said Kenya was making excellent progress towards meeting the threshold for inclusion in the programme.

For more than 10 years, Kenya has failed eligibility tests for inclusion in the US government-backed programme due to rampant corruption but MCC last month decided to qualify Kenya for a “threshold programme” that would likely carry funding ranging from $20 million to $30 million.

“Kenya is an important partner in East Africa,” the MCC said in December in announcing Kenya’s approval for a second threshold programme.

The funds would be used to promote additional gains in the country’s anti-graft purge. If Kenya passes this initial step, it will be chosen for a “compact” with MCC. 

“Such an arrangement, usually focused on infrastructure development, involves an MCC grant averaging about $350 million,” Cairncross said during a press briefing on Thursday.

Since its inception in 2004, MCC has awarded a total of over $8 billion to 25 developing countries, including 13 on the African continent.

“Kenya must make additional progress in controlling corruption before it can be deemed eligible for an MCC compact,” Cairncross added.

“Corruption does not have to be eradicated in order for Kenya to qualify for an MCC compact. Eligibility is assessed on the basis of a trend toward dealing with that corruption and a willingness to engage government resources and political will to take those issues on.”