New York, USA; President Ruto held talks with the Ford Foundation President, Darren Walker, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), purging out a stiff standoff over the bankrolling of demonstrations in Kenya two months ago.
During the meeting, Ford Foundation President commended President Ruto’s strong stance on global economic reforms on governance, climate change, and technology regulation. Darren Walker also committed Ford’s continued support to Kenya.
On his side, President Ruto applauded the Ford Foundation’s commitment to supporting Kenya’s democracy and its vocal support for various reforms at the global stage, including climate change and technology regulation.
“Kenya appreciates the Ford Foundation’s commitment to safeguarding our democracy and supporting Kenya’s calls for reforms in the global economic institutions, climate action, and modern technology regulation,” he posted on X handle.
President Ruto, while underscoring Kenya’s commitment to the rule of law and respect for human rights, called for safeguarding the continent’s from the risk of collapsing, driven by disinformation and manipulation of digital space.
On July, President Ruto’s administration and supporters accused the Ford Foundation of sponsoring the Gen Z-led protests and formally wrote to the organization, demanding a response on its role in the protests.
“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 because of our hard-won democracy,” he said.
In their response, the Ford Foundation said the funds were initially meant to support civil education and community engagement. They, however, stated that their internal investigation had revealed the misuse of their funds and promised to name them later.
“It is with deep regret that we announce the unfortunate outcome related to our recent funding, which has inadvertently contributed to instability and violence in Kenya. The funded activities were initially intended to promote civil education and enhance community engagement as a means to enhance democracy. However, our internal investigations have revealed that the recipients of our donations, who will be named later, misused the funds for illegal purposes,” Ford Foundations.
