Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has challenged policymakers in Africa to embrace new policies that will ensure the continent achieves financial independence, utilizes available resources prudently and cuts dependency on foreign aid.

Mr. Kenyatta called on economies in Africa to reduce their reliance on foreign aid, noting that sustainable development can only be achieved through self-sufficiency.

“It is crucial that we position ourselves at the forefront of any discussions on pandemics and proactively develop strategies to ensure we are fully prepared for such challenges” said Mr Kenyatta.

He added, "When you see the devastation caused across this continent by the many unnecessary wars in Sudan, DRC... we have actually lost more people to bullets fired by Africans on Africans than we lost to the Corona virus. We’ve spent more buying those bullets to kill ourselves than we have spent on protecting our health and our societies."

Mr. Kenyatta was speaking at the inaugural East Africa Region Global Health Security Summit in Mombasa on Wednesday at a time when Africa is grappling with new harsh reality of sudden end to multiple aid programs under US President Donald Trump's new administration.

Under the theme "Securing Health and Security One Community at a Time," the three-day summit brings together leaders, health experts, and policymakers from 14 member states to strengthen regional collaboration on health security, preparedness, and innovation.

“We must look into ways of getting prepared with our own resources, vaccines, research, academia and private sectors to face any future challenges and that funding has to come from ourselves. He reiterated that we have to begin to reprioritize what is important for Africans and determine where our resources should be chanelled," noted Mr. Kenyatta.

The summit is organized by a coalition of organizations, including the Ministry of Health, Kenya Vision 2030, Jumuiya Economic Development Secretariat, Global Center for Health Security, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Eastern Africa Regional Coordination Centre (EA-RCC), Africa CDC, and Amref Health Africa and it brings together a wide range of participants, including policymakers, health professionals, academics, and leaders from the private sector.

During his address, Kenyatta provided a clear overview of the measures his government implemented to navigate the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, he highlighted both the resilience of Kenyans and the innovative strategies the country employed to sustain its economy, protect its citizens, and secure a path to recovery.

Last week, Trump signed an executive order to kick start the process of US withdrawing massive funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), a move that has left leaders in Kenya and Africa worried given their heavy dependency on services from the UN health agency.

Trump's order said Washington was withdrawing from WHO "due to the organization's mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic... its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states".

Just a day after Trump's swearing in, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki expressed dismay following US government's announcement to exit from the WHO.

Faki noted that in Africa, the US was a strong supporter of the setting up of Africa CDC, the African Union's agency tasked with public health emergencies. Africa CDC works closely with WHO to detect, prepare for, respond to and recover from pandemics.

In yet another move that has left tongues wagging in Africa and across the world, Trump has frozen the financing for anti-HIV programmes. Under US financing, these programmes provide critical care to an estimated 30 million people worldwide who live with the disease. Kenya has about 1.5 million people living with HIV and AIDS.

“A funding halt for HIV programmes can put people living with HIV at immediate increased risk of illness and death and undermine efforts to prevent transmission in communities and countries,” the WHO noted.

Trumps move is poised to affect access to HIV diagnostics, medicines, and treatment for millions of people at risk in low and middle-income countries especially in Africa, triggering painful health consequences.

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