President William Ruto on Monday, July 15, sparked mixed reactions after accusing Ford Foundation, an American Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) of financing the recent anti-government protests in Kenya.
Speaking in a roadside rally in Nakuru, the Head of State faulted the organisation of funding the protests, claiming that they are operating against Kenya’s best interests and democracy.
Ruto asked the organisation to stop financing the protests or leave 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!
“I want to ask the people from Ford Foundation to explain to us what they seek to gain by destabilising Kenya’s democracy,” he said.
But what is the Ford Foundation? Here is what WoK has managed to dig about the 88-year-old organisation that has caught the attention of President Ruto.
Ford Foundation is an American private foundation created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford.
According to its official website, the organisation was established with the goal of reducing poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement.
“We believe in the inherent dignity of all people. But around the world, too many people are excluded from the political, economic, and social institutions that shape their lives,” a statement on their website reads.
Following the deaths of Edsel Ford in 1943 and Henry Ford in 1947, Edsel’s eldest son, Henry Ford II, took over as president of the Ford Foundation.
It rapidly became evident that the foundation would grow to be the world’s largest philanthropic organisation.
The board of trustees then appointed the Gaither Study Committee to plan the foundation’s future.
For many years, the foundation ranked first on the Foundation Center’s yearly listings of US foundations with the biggest assets and the highest annual donations.
The organisation has dropped a few spots on such lists in recent years, particularly with the founding of the Bill and Melinda Gates organisation in 2000.
On May 4, 2013, the foundation ranked second in terms of assets and ninth in terms of yearly grant giving.
Darren Walker is the current president of the organisation.
Others who have served as presidents of the organisation include Edsel Ford (1936–1943), Henry Ford II (1943–1950), Paul G. Hoffman (1950–1953) and H. Rowan Gaither (1953–1956).
Others are Henry T. Heald (1956–1965), McGeorge Bundy (1966–1979), Franklin Thomas (1979–1996), Susan Berresford (1996–2007) and Luis Ubiñas (2008–2013).
The organisation currently makes $500 million in grants around the world every year.
