By Musa Mdluli

MBABANE:Donald Trump,the newly inaugurated President of the United States(US) has grounded Non Governmental Organizations(NGOs) in eSwatini and the entire African continent, subsequent to a signed Executive Order halting foreign funding.

It has been disclosed that, before President Trump halted the funding, the US had already committed about R1billion funding to various NGOs in eSwatini that include Elizabeth Glaser, Cabrini Ministries, World Vision,The Luke Commission, Young Heroes and Futures Group.

The Times of eSwatini, quoting Economist Thembinkhosi Dlamini reported on Wednesday that, the halting of the funding will result to over four thousand(4000) job losses, President Donald Trump suspended the funding for three(3) months.

“The 90 days are a long period and could spell the beginning of retrenchments in the long run if you consider that the budget has been declining with 10% annually for these programmes”, said the Economist.

But the US President’s decision to suspend foreign funding, dominated the discourse in the entire African continent and on Wednesday morning, SaFM Presenter Cathy Mohlahlana hosted some experts to discuss the impact of the US President’s Executive Order halting foreign funding, SaFM is a South African Broadcasting Corporation(SABC) Radio Station.

The experts mentioned that,the US President’s decision will affect eSwatini, South Africa,Mozambique and other African countries.

On another note, Thembinkhosi Dlamini,the Executive Director of the Coordinating Assembly of Non Governmental Organizations(CANGO) predicted when speaking to this Swaziland News last week that, the decision by newly inaugurated President of the United States(US) Donald Trump to suspend foreign donor funding will affect NGOs in eSwatini including HIV/AIDS programs.

“This means the decision will affect many NGOs in the country in including HIV/AIDS programs because the US contributes a large amount to the Global Fund”, said the CANGO Director.

But the Washington Times previously reported that, President Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all US foreign assistance programs for ninety(90) days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.

“It was not immediately clear how much assistance would initially be affected by the Monday order as funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and is obligated to be spent, if not already spent.The order, among many Trump signed on his first day back in office, said the “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values” and “serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries,” the Washington Times reported.