Ford Foundation Breaks Silence On Ruto’s Funding Claims
On Monday, President William Ruto accused the Ford Foundation, an American non-governmental organization (NGO), of financing recent anti-government protests in Kenya.
While addressing Kenyans at Keringet Market in Nakuru County, Ruto spoke forcefully, emphasizing the importance of peace in Kenya and claiming that some parties benefited greatly from the protests.
The President claimed that the parties in question were funneling funds to unidentified groups in Kenya to stage protests and destabilize the country.
“Those who are sponsoring the violence, we know them and I want to call out those who are behind the anarchy in Kenya. Shame on them!” Ruto stated.
President Ruto also claimed that the organisation had ill intentions and was working against Kenya’s best interests and democracy.
“I want to ask the people from Ford Foundation to explain to us what they seek to gain by destabilising Kenya’s democracy,” stated Ruto.
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
Earlier in the day, President Ruto expressed similar sentiments while on a development tour in Nakuru.
“I want to tell those people who are taking money and trying to fund violence in Kenya that I will stop them. We want peace and that is our stand,” he added.
However, the said NGO has come out to refute President Ruto’s inflammatory claims.
Ford Foundation started working in Kenya in 1963 as a response to the Revenue Act of 1935, which imposed estate taxes of 70 percent on estates of over $50 million.
Because the Ford Motor Company was a family-held business, in which Henry Ford and his son Edsel held, between them, 96.9 percent of Ford stock, it was particularly vulnerable to high estate taxes, which could force the family to sell Ford Motor shares to retain family control.
“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,” read Ford’s statement
Ford Foundation Breaks Silence On Ruto’s Funding Claims
