Kenyan President William Ruto today accused the United States-based Ford Foundation of promoting anarchy and financing the anti-government protests that rocked the country last month.
Kenya has been experiencing political instability since the protests, which began as peaceful gatherings of young people against a proposed tax increase, before turning into a broader campaign against Ruto and his administration.
Dozens of people have been killed since the protests began a month ago. The deadliest day was June 25, when a mob stormed parliament and police fired live ammunition at protesters.
“Those who are sponsoring chaos in the Republic of Kenya are ashamed, because they are sponsoring violence against our democratic nation,” Ruto said today during a speech in the city of Nakuru, in the central west of the country.
“I want to ask the people at the Ford Foundation, this money they are giving to support violence, how are they going to benefit from it?”, declared the President before a large crowd gathered to listen to him.
“We are going to ask them if they are not interested in democracy in Kenya, if they are going to finance violence in Kenya, if they are going to finance anarchy. We are going to challenge them and we are going to tell them that either they fall in line or they leave,” said Ruto.
The Ford Foundation office in East Africa, in Nairobi, the country’s capital, and the US embassy have not yet commented or responded to questions from the French news agency France-Presse (AFP).
The organization, created in 1936 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, operates worldwide and aims to defend social justice and democratic values. In recent decades, it has provided grants to several Kenyan human rights groups.
President Ruto, who is trying to calm the worst crisis since taking office almost two years ago, has in the past accused foreign elements, without naming them, of having caused problems during the demonstrations.
Street protests have subsided recently, but activists called for further action on Tuesday, June 16.







Leave a Reply