The government has demanded accountability reports from the Ford Foundation on Sh752 million allegedly given to 16 organisations in Kenya between April 2023 and May 2024, days after President William Ruto accused the American charity of funding anti-government protests.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei said beneficiaries received $5.78 million (Sh752 million) between April 2023 and May 2024.
At the same time, the PS said in a letter to the president of the New York-based Ford Foundation, Darren Walker, that there were some unexplained fast-track grants amounting to $1.49 million (Sh194 million) in the last month alone.
According to the PS, those funded to destabilise the country include Africa Uncensored Limited (Project Mulika) ($250,000), Women's Link Worldwide ($750,000), Centre for Resource Mobilization and Development ($20,000), Transform Empowerment for Action Initiative ($220,000), Kenya Human Rights Commission ($600,000), Open Institute Trust ($100,000), Africa Centre for Open Governance ($200,000) and Transparency International ($300,000).
Other recipients include The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA) ($200,000), National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (K) ($257,000), Shinning Hope for Communities Inc. ($2,050,000), Coalition for Grassroots Human Rights Defenders Kenya ($250,000), Community Aid International ($100,000), Mzalendo Trust ($335,000), Usikimye (Femicide) ($30,000), and Citizens Advancement Initiative ($150,000).
“Most of the grantees have been at the centre of the Anti-Finance Bill protests and the subsequent anarchic mobilisations that have sought to upend the peace and security of the state,” the PS said in a letter dated July 18.
Democratically elected government
The PS claimed that the protesters were out to overthrow the democratically elected government of Kenya.
“The demands of the protestors have morphed and escalated into attempts at toppling the country’s democratically elected and constitutionally sanctioned government under the guise of the right to demonstrate and assemble,” the PS said.
The PS said that the Ford Foundation's funding violated its policy of not lobbying, and that the organisation was now influencing the country's internal political and policy processes.
The PS called on the Ford Foundation to provide full details of all recipients of the money used to destabilise the country during the anti-tax protests.
“It is imperative that you immediately clear the air on a number of issues touching on your grantees.”
Among other things, the PS urged the Ford Foundation to provide full details of grantees over the past year, programmes approved (particularly in the last three months), budgets for each project, amounts disbursed to date and amounts still to be disbursed:
The government asked for reports from the grantees detailing the activities carried out, the costs of these activities and their beneficiaries.
The government asked the foundation to dissociate itself from the activities of the civil society organisations it claims to have funded.
The government also urged the Foundation to take action against any civil society that may have violated its funding policy.
However, the government expressed its appreciation for the Ford Foundation's historic contributions to Kenya's development.
“The Foundation's continued commitment to working with the Kenyan people through civil society and state organs are deeply valued,” the statement said.
“You will concede that the above funds disbursed to non-state recipients are substantial and must be prudently used to serve legitimate purposes or risk abuse to aid nefarious ends.”
