On 15th July (local time), the President of Kenya, William Samoei Ruto, accused the Ford Foundation of having a role in recent anti-government protests in the country. In a statement, he said, “Our youth are not available for retrogressive assignments. Those sponsoring them to cause violence and mayhem must be ashamed of themselves. We ask the Ford Foundation to explain to Kenyans its role in the recent protests. We will call out all those who are bent on rolling back our hard-won democracy.”
Our youth are not available for retrogressive assignments. Those sponsoring them to cause violence and mayhem must be ashamed of themselves. We ask the Ford Foundation to explain to Kenyans its role in the recent protests. We will call out all those who are bent on rolling back… pic.twitter.com/5IcnwQw6e5
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) July 15, 2024
Kenya’s President William Samoei Ruto is facing a series of protests from the youth of the country. The protests started as peaceful rallies against the proposed tax hikes. However, they spiralled into a larger campaign against President Ruto and his administration. The protests have been going on for over a month and so far dozens of people have been killed.
Reportedly, on 25th June, angry protesters stormed into the parliament and police opened fire to stop them leading to several deaths. During the event at the Rift Valley town, Ruto said, “Those behind sponsoring the chaos in the Republic of Kenya, shame on them because they are sponsoring violence against our democratic nation.”
William Samoei Ruto added, “We are going to tell them if they are not interested in democracy in Kenya if they are going to sponsor violence in Kenya if they are going to sponsor anarchy, we are going to call them out and we are going to tell them that they either style up or they leave.”
According to Business Day Africa, the Ford Foundation has refuted the allegations and stated that the organisation does not condone violence in any way. The organisation said, “We do not fund or sponsor the recent protests against the finance bill and have a strictly non-partisan policy for all of our grantmaking. While we acknowledge the right of Kenyans to peacefully advocate for a just and equitable country, we repudiate any actions or speech that are hateful or advocate violence against any institution, individual, or community.”
BREAKING: Ford Foundation denies sponsoring anarchy, violence and chaos in Kenya as claimed by President William Ruto.
— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) July 15, 2024
“We do not fund or sponsor the recent protests against the finance bill and have a strictly non-partisan policy for all of our grantmaking.” pic.twitter.com/R5HRqfe0lb
39 killed in anti-govt protests
On 2nd July, it was reported that at least 39 protesters were killed in anti-government protests in Kenya. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) announced the toll on Monday, which is almost double the figure previously disclosed by the government for those killed while demonstrating against a raft of unpopular tax increases that have now been withdrawn. Moreover, largely peaceful anti-tax rallies, led by mostly young Gen-Z protesters, descended into shocking scenes of deadly violence last Tuesday when lawmakers passed the contentious legislation. Later, following the announcement of the vote, crowds ransacked the parliament complex in central Nairobi and it was partly set ablaze as police fired live bullets at protesters.
About Ford Foundation and its anti-India activities
Ford Foundation is an American charitable organisation that presents itself as a group engaged in advancing human welfare. In reality, it is a cesspool of intolerant and bigoted left-wing extremists. The group has a storied history of bankrolling the causes championed by left-wing supporters, including that in India.
In 2015 the Government of Gujarat while investigating Teesta Setalvad’s embezzlement case came across funding by Ford Foundation to her entities. It was found that her trust had violated FCRA norms. Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Limited, with which Teesta is associated, received $ 2.9 lakh from Ford Foundation as a grant to “address communalism, caste-based discrimination in India, including media strategies”.
Later, a letter was issued by the Gujarat Police, following which the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) expressed its intention of probing the activities of the Ford Foundation. This probably set off a chain of events, most of which happened in the background and was later revealed by Wikileaks.
As per the leaked emails, Ford Foundation claims that they got embroiled in a controversy over its funding to Sabrang Trusts managed by Teesta Setalvad. The letter titled Ford Foundation in India: Notes to John Podesta dated May 26, 2015, also mentions their funding to Arvind Kejriwal’s NGO before he got into politics as a possible reason for Government’s action.
This was confirmed by none other than one of the leading luminaries of the Indian left-wing firmament, Ms Arundhati Roy. In an interview with Sagarika Ghose, Roy talked about one of the articles that she wrote for The Hindu in which she alleged that NGOs of Kejriwal and Sisodia had received over $400,000 from Ford Foundation in three years of time. Roy claimed that the group of ten people who were the top ‘management’ of the movement had well-funded NGOs. She said that three core members of the team had won Magsaysay Award which is also funded by Ford Foundation.
