US lauds Kenyan efforts on graft war

Kenya is set to benefit from millions of dollars from the Obama administration.

A meeting between Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and senior Technocrats at the US State Department in Washington on Friday highlighted Kenya’s willingness to effectively tackle corruption and carry out reforms across several sectors of governance.

Key US officials said the strides made in the Kenyan constitutional review process were good enough for US state department officials to recommend fast-tracking of approval for access to the funds.

The funds are to be channelled through the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and increased investment funding through United States Agency for International Development (USaid). The meeting was led by Deputy in charge of Bureau of African Affairs Mr Donald Yamamoto.

Kenya’s ambassador to Washington Mr Peter Ogengo is set to meet with Mr Yamamoto in the coming week to work out the actual details of the millennium challenge account considerations.

During the discussion it was said that ties between the two countries should count when considering an upgrade of development assistance and direct foreign investments to Kenya.

“Kenya is our cornerstone ally in the East Africa region and while we insist that reforms and the war on corruption must be fast-tracked it is also our responsibility, considering our relationship, to upscale our engagement for the benefit of the Kenyan people,” said Mr Yamamoto.

He listed youth unemployment, internal political reforms, sustainable health, education and drought mitigation in Kenya as some of the areas of concern to the American Government.

While raising the issue of the MCA, Mr Musyoka noted that Kenya needed help in her efforts to implement far reaching reforms, the fight against corruption and economic reforms aimed at employment creation. “We need support to carry out these reforms and one area we can get assistance is from the Millennium Challenge Account,” he said.

The MCA is a bilateral development fund announced by the Bush administration in 2002 and created in January, 2004. The US Government through USaid is also set to avail part of the 700 million dollars earmarked for investment in Africa to enable Kenya revamp energy, agriculture, ICT, manufacturing and small and medium enterprises (SME) sectors.

Countries that participate in the MCA are selected on a competitive basis through a set of 17 indicators designed to measure a country’s effectiveness at ruling justly, investing in people, and fostering enterprise and entrepreneurship.

The focus of the MCA is to promote economic growth in the recipient countries with an an emphasis on good economic policies in recipient countries.

Additional Reporting by Lucas Barasa