NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 19 – The government has formally written to the Ford Foundation listing 16 rights groups that benefited from over Sh900 million funding allegedly linked to chaos during the recent protests.
In the letter, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korr SingOei demanded answers to the unexplained manner in which the organisations spent money last month.
“Thus, while we recognize the importance of maintaining an open civic space and respect for the principles of open government that we both share, the actions of some of your Grantees contravene the laws Kenya, including prohibition against incitement, hate speech, insurrection and mobilization using disinformation,” he stated.
He expressed concern that most of the Grantees have been at the centre of the recent protests and subsequent anarchic mobilizations that have sought to disturb the country’s peace.
Among the Ford Foundation grantees include Africa Uncensored and the Kenya Human Rights Commission.
Other organisations listed are Transform Empowerment for Action Initiative, Open Institute Trust, Africa Centre for Open Governance, Transparency International and The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA).
Others include National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, Shining Hope for Communities, Coalition for Grassroots Human Rights Defenders Kenya, Community Aid International, Mzalendo Trust, Usikimye, Citizens Advancement Initiative.
Government also demanded detailed information on all grantees over the past year, including approved programs, project budgets, disbursed amounts, and planned disbursements.
Similarly, the Kenyan government wanted to know the activities carried out by the grants rolled by the foundation to the Kenyan based NGO’s as well as any sanctions the Foundation plans to impose for violations of local laws or internal policies.
President William Ruto had in July publicly accused the donor of being responsible for the chaos witnessed in the country since June in what started as protests against the controversial Finance Bill.
“I am calling out Ford Foundation for sponsoring violence and anarchy in Kenya and we are telling them that they either style up or they leave,” Ruto charged Monday after weeks of protests.
The demonstrations degenerated into anti-government protests demanding the exit of the President.
Similar protests were underway in most towns in the country on Tuesday.
Ford Foundation would later denounce the accusations, saying it is not responsible for sponsoring the chaos that has left more than 40 people, mainly the youths dead.
“We do not fund or sponsor the recent protests against the finance bill.” The foundation, which has been providing grants to civil and rights groups in Kenya for decades, emphasized its “strictly non-partisan policy for all of our grantmaking,” it said.
Dozens of people have been killed since the protests started, with the deadliest incident occurring on June 25 when angry crowds stormed parliament and police responded with live bullets.
