Consequences of electoral choice starting to bite?

The Government's look-East policy has had its fair share of negative effects on a country that has, since independence, shared its socio-political and economic ties with the West, notably the US and Britain.

In the run-up to the 2013 elections, Johnny Carson, the US assistant Secretary of State warned Kenyans that their political choices would come with consequences, in reference to the ICC cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

Abandoning our long-time trade partners at such a short notice, without first having establishing firm alternatives to their financial assistance has left the country badly exposed.

Virtually all the development realised has been with the assistance of the west.

Their investments in the country are immense and have contributed greatly towards improving the economy.

USaid, an American agency that has for a long time partnered with the Government, especially in the field of health, has opted to drastically cut down funding for most of its projects in the country.

This will result in many job cuts as those employed by non-governmental organisations under the auspices of USaid run into tens of thousands.

Last year, USaid, which has assisted Kenya in making great strides towards reducing the Aids prevalence in the country and provided anti-retrovirals to poor affected families, cut back on its budget by Sh74 billion.

The net effect of this has been a relapse for those who could no longer access the drugs that lowered CD4 cell count to manageable levels.

USaid has actively involved itself with poverty eradication projects that have greatly assisted poor families in remote villages start income-generating projects that put food on the table.

With no more funding from this agency, good health and poverty eradication programmes will stall.

Friendship with the East has had its positive gains, whose fruits will take long to realise.

It is therefore advisable that the Government restores the good relationship with our old trading partners for the common good of the citizens of Kenya.