Kenya, Uganda fail US aid test again, Tanzania passes

Kenya and Uganda have once again been deemed ineligible for a special US development aid programme that is providing Tanzania with nearly $700 million over the next five years.

According to “scorecards” issued last week, Kenya fails to qualify for the Millennium Challenge assistance because it falls short of an anti-corruption standard for the fourth consecutive year.

That finding will have disappointed Foreign Minister Moses Wetang’ula.

He stated in an interview during a September visit to the United Nations that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had assured him that Kenya would soon be approved for a Millennium Challenge grant.

In addition to failing the anti-corruption test that countries must pass in order to qualify for the aid, Kenya was judged to be lagging in regard to rule of law, immunisation rates, health expenditures and fiscal policy.

The country was given passing grades on 12 criteria, including political rights and government effectiveness.

Uganda is not entitled to receive Millennium Challenge funds because it meets one less than the minimal number of standards for potential eligibility.

Uganda fails on measurements of political rights, civil liberties, immunisation rates, health expenditures, girls’ completion of primary education and fiscal policy.

Tanzanian and American officials are meanwhile completing preparations for a Millennium Challenge programme aimed at greatly improving the country’s road and electricity networks.

The scope of this initiative suggests that Kenya and Uganda could also receive substantial infrastructure aid if they were to pass the performance tests established by US monitors.

The $698 million development assistance compact with Tanzania is the largest package of aid among 16 that have so far been approved for developing countries.

The agreements total $5.5 billion, with more than half that amount going to eight countries in black Africa: Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania.