Foreign Affairs PS Korir Sing’oei on Friday denied allegations that the Ford Foundation contacted him and confirmed being involved in the funding of the June Gen Z protests.
Sing’oei shared a letter that had been circulating on social media that had purported to have been sent to him by the foundation and flagged it as fake.
“I have not received this letter purportedly addressed to me. On the face of it, it bears the imprints of fake news,” he wrote.
In the letter with the subject line ‘Apology and assurance following misuse of grant funds in Kenya’, the foundation allegedly states that following a successful meeting with the Kenyan president on the sidelines of the UNGA conference, they decided to investigate the reports of funding the protests.
The letter continues to state that it was then that they performed an internal audit and found out that, indeed, some of their grantees did participate in funding the protest.
Purportedly signed by the foundation’s president Darren Walker, the letter also outlines an apology to the Kenyan government for the oversight and promises to provide a full report on the issue and implement stricter oversight reforms to ensure that such missteps don't reoccur.
However, in the letter, the foundation refers to the protests having occurred in June 2025 instead of 2024.
President William Ruto raised eyebrows on Monday when he met and warmed up to the Ford Foundation’s officials, including its president, during his current trip to New York.
His change of stand after accusing the foundation of privately funding the Gen-Z protests of June and July caught Kenyans by surprise as it came just two months after he made his remarks disparaging the Foundation.
Despite his prior sharp criticism of the US-based organization, Ruto lauded the foundation's values including democracy, global economic reforms, and climate action during his meeting with the officials.
“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,” Ruto stated.
The protests which kicked off on July 18 quickly turned violent after Police Officers deployed to contain them turned murderous leaving several dead and scores injured. The numbers recorded by the government so far include 42 dead and 132 missing.
Because of this violent turn in the protests that began as anti-finance bill demonstrations, the president made a fiery address on July 22 calling out external forces funding the chaos.
“I want to call out those who are behind the anarchy in Kenya, those who are behind sponsoring chaos in the Republic of Kenya. Shame on them, because they are sponsoring violence against our democratic nation,” he declared, even naming the Ford Foundation.
