WILLY MUTUNGA REFUTES ACCUSATIONS OF SPONSORING ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS, CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT’S ALLEGATIONS AGAINST FORD FOUNDATION
Ex-Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has rubbished claims that he sponsored the recent anti-government protests against President William Ruto’s regime.
According to Mutunga addressing the media, he is not perturbed by the mudslinging posters and online mudslinging linking him to attempts to make the country ungovernable.
“I believe my ideological and political position that I have had since the early 1970s, that our elites are enslaved by foreign interests; and that neither the opposition nor the government can be trusted to govern in the national interest is the basis of these attacks. The mercenary 150 bloggers are all known,” said Mutunga.
Former chief justice and long-time activist since his retirement said, “The criticism will not stop me from supporting the demands the Gen Z and Millennials are making, all anchored in the 2010 Constitution.”
The critics supporting the government have linked Mutunga to the Ford Foundation the government has accused of funding the revolt.
The US-based Ford Foundation denied an allegation that it had funded 16 non-governmental organizations to foment anarchy in Kenya. This was after a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kenya sought clarification on its funding operations in the country.
The Ford Foundation explained its activities carried out here in Kenya were purely charitable, and details of the same, including funding, are publicly available on its website.
It is not entirely true that there are incomplete online records on how monies are used in Kenya, says Darren Walker, the president of the Foundation.
Walker said, “While we continue to acknowledge the right of Kenyans to peacefully advocate for a just and equitable country, we repudiate any actions or speech that are hateful or advocate violence against any institution, individual, or community.”
The allegations came a few days after the letter that the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korir Sing’Oei, had written to the Ford Foundation demanding a report on its accountability.
For Mutunga, the Ford Foundation funds both the government and civil society; the current administration has all the information about its funding.
“I worked at the FF. Its funding is tied to the implementation of the Constitution and other areas of economic and social development. I am not surprised I am being accused of getting funds for the mass action from the US. Our government has to blame someone for its incompetence. My criticism of the KANU dictatorship, which turns 61 in December, is in the public domain,” said Mutunga.
He asked why the government does not point fingers at itself for accepting funds from foreign interests he says undermine the country’s national interests.
“When will our politicians stop buying our votes? It takes intelligence to lie and they have none. The media must focus on the truths we are telling the people about their government,” he added.
