Clarification on the Involvement of Vanguard Africa
Vanguard Africa is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing ethical leadership and driving support for free, fair, and credible elections throughout Africa, including in Kenya.
Consistent with this mission, Vanguard Africa hosted former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his delegation for a range of high-level meetings in Washington, DC from March 13-16, 2017. These meetings focused on the importance of the upcoming general elections and why the international community must support Kenyan voters who are collectively calling for free, fair, fully transparent and peaceful elections. Our legal filing with the United States Department of Justice, submitted on March 26, 2017, provides detailed and up-to-date information on our involvement with Mr. Odinga and his delegation.
We will not respond to, or otherwise be distracted by, every false allegation that is printed, but we believe it is important to establish several baseline facts about our support to date. Vanguard Africa has never received money from, nor dispersed money to, Mr. Odinga or his political party. Any correspondence circulating on our letterhead, not disclosed in our original filing with the U.S. Department of Justice, are fabrications and the claims made therein patently false.
Vanguard Africa will continue spotlighting the mounting calls for free, fair, and transparent elections throughout Africa, as well as in Kenya. We encourage anyone who believes in this pivotal cause to connect with us through our website or social media and help our team continue to build support for credible elections across the African continent.