NAIROBI, Kenya – The effects of United States President Donald Trump’s executive orders on foreign aid policies are beginning to take hold, and the ripple effects will be far-reaching.
While these orders undeniably impact the beneficiaries and employees of affected departments, they also serve as a much-needed wake-up call for governments that have grown overly reliant on foreign assistance.
Compassion for the underprivileged is essential, but in some cases, prolonged aid fosters a sense of entitlement, leading recipients to expect assistance as a given rather than a privilege.
From a rational standpoint, governments that lose vast sums to corruption and graft have no justifiable claim to foreign aid.
If such practices persist with little to no effort to curb them, then international assistance becomes an insult to the taxpayers whose money is used to support these nations.
Many of these recipient governments operate multiple institutions that serve the same purpose—a glaring oversight that reflects a culture of inefficiency.
Instead of addressing these redundancies, they choose willful ignorance, all at the expense of responsible taxpayers in donor countries.
In this light, it is only reasonable that a donor country’s tax revenue should primarily serve its own citizens.
These funds could be redirected to assist the less fortunate within the donor nations themselves.
At first glance, these executive orders may seem cruel and inhumane, given their impact on millions.
However, a deeper examination reveals that recipient governments often mishandle their own taxpayer funds through embezzlement and misappropriation—hardly the traits of responsible governance worthy of continued support.
Institutionalized corruption has become a tool for rewarding loyalty and friendships, leading to a bloated bureaucracy filled with incompetence and inefficiency. The result? Public offices that serve little to no purpose, ultimately failing the citizens they are meant to help. This, in turn, hampers economic growth and development on a larger scale.
What is even more infuriating is how foreign aid, once received, is frequently mismanaged. Resources are diverted, nepotism dictates distribution, and deserving recipients are often left empty-handed—an unfortunate yet common reality.
Predictably, politicians will seize this moment to shift blame. Rather than addressing their own governance failures, many will point fingers at the suspended aid and, by extension, at President Trump. Failures in service delivery, broken promises, and future shortcomings will all be conveniently attributed to his administration. It is almost certain that upcoming campaign trails will cast Trump as the scapegoat for these woes.
Whether seen as a villain or not, whether liked or disliked, Trump’s executive orders should not come as a surprise.
His campaign trail made clear the policies he intended to enforce. Governments that banked on hope rather than preparedness—anticipating a different election outcome—were acting irresponsibly.
It was always a possibility that Kamala Harris could have won, but depending on a variable rather than implementing contingency plans was a reckless gamble.
The abrupt halt of foreign aid undeniably harms millions, particularly those whose survival hinges entirely on this support.
However, it also serves as a crucial wake-up call for recipient governments to prioritize their own citizens without depending on aid that, as history has shown, remains fickle and subject to the whims of donor-country leadership.
Receiving foreign aid should be considered an honor, not an entitlement.
Governments must honor their people by upholding transparency, combating corruption, and ensuring that national resources are allocated effectively—long before looking outward for assistance.
