As civil unrest continues spreading across Kenya, protesters led by Generation Z, a demographic cohort of educated unemployed youth, are calling on President William Ruto to resign over his poor leadership.
On July 23, a group of Gen Z activists stormed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the largest airport in sub-Saharan Africa, to protest its alleged sale, while another group took over the capital, Nairobi.
The protests erupted in mid-June over legislation that would have imposed unaffordable tax increases on ordinary citizens and businesses already burdened by the high cost of living.
The president withdrew the bill on June 26 and fired his entire Cabinet except the foreign minister on July 11, VOA reported.
The Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights said at least 50 people were killed and 413 others injured less than two months into the unrest amid the government crackdown on the protesters.
As the pressure on Ruto continues, the president has been changing his approach to dealing with the crises threatening his administration.
On July 22, Ruto threatened “to deal” with protesters, describing them as anonymous, faceless, formless and foreign-sponsored. But on July 24, Ruto suddenly ordered the release of all protesters arrested since the start of rallies on June 18.
Earlier in July, without providing any evidence to back his allegations, Ruto accused the U.S. Ford Foundation of sponsoring the violence and threatened to “kick it out of the country.”
“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. I want to ask the Ford Foundation if that money they are giving out to fund violence, how is it going to benefit them?”
That is misleading.
The U.S.-based NGO Ford Foundation has no history of sponsoring violence since its creation over 85 years ago, but there is ample evidence that it provides grants to human rights, press freedom and anti-corruption initiatives and groups worldwide. It opened its first office in Kenya in 1963, when the nation gained independence from Britain.
The foundation lists 401 Kenyan grantees who received funding between 2006 and 2024 – none of them bears hallmarks of violence or criminal records.
Ford Foundation denies Ruto’s accusations.
The list of Ford Foundation grantees in Kenya provides the details of the grants, including the types and nature of projects undertaken using the funding. The projects address social injustices and economic development, among other issues.
While the Ford Foundation supports opposition figures, rights groups and media organizations, most of its grantees in Kenya are top senior government officials, including Chief Justice Martha Koome.
Ruto also failed to mention that his wife, Rachel Ruto, is a beneficiary of Ford Foundation funding.
According to the Ford Foundation website, in November 2014, Rachel Ruto’s foundation, the Joyful Women Organization, received $100,119 to promote “table banking” – microloan models that encourage women’s enterprise and livelihood projects.
The Joyful Women Organization, established in 2009, lists Rachel Ruto as the patron and founder on its website.
The Gen Z protesters self-describe as leaderless, tribeless, partyless and without affiliation to any politician or organization, exercising their constitutional rights to march and voice their grievances.
The protests have been organized online by self-declared nonethnic youth or Gen Z mobilizers who are seeking to address issues of corruption, unfulfilled promises, police brutality, joblessness and increased taxation by Ruto’s regime, among other issues.
Youths in several parts of Africa say they are inspired by the Kenyan protesters’ courage and patriotism.
On July 23, hundreds of Generation Z protesters marched to the parliament in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, to demand the resignation of the speaker, accused of corruption.
Similar protests took place in Gambia and have been announced in Nigeria, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
