Congress Is Briefed On Incident At The African Development Foundation
When officials from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) arrived at the African Development Foundation (USADF) headquarters in March, they weren’t expecting to be locked out. But that’s exactly what happened. Instead of welcoming the federal audit with transparency, agency leadership barricaded the doors, prompting U.S. Marshals to force entry — an unprecedented standoff that now appears more like a cover-up than a constitutional protest.
What lay behind those locked doors was not just a small, $45 million-budgeted development agency, but what whistleblowers allege was Washington’s most corrupt federal body. As uncovered in part two of The Daily Wire’s investigation, the USADF operated like a slush fund for well-connected bureaucrats and political allies — all cloaked in the language of humanitarian aid.
Legally, USADF can only provide grants to Africa-based organizations. But former employees revealed that those funds were routinely funneled through African groups and redirected back to the U.S. to enrich bureaucrats, pay friends, and skirt federal regulations. These weren’t one-off anomalies — they were the norm.
One staffer said she was shortchanged on her paycheck — until the agency CEO directed her to an individual in Africa who wired her $17,000 from a Kenyan bank account. Another employee was reportedly paid through a Mauritanian partner with no payroll or tax withholdings — a blatant violation of U.S. employment law.
Getting more dramatic now. They are trying to get into the office but the agency won't let them. Here is a video, shared with permission, of Marocco and some of the DOGE folks outside the elevators pic.twitter.com/VkLmw3hodW
— Brett Murphy (@BrettMmurphy) March 5, 2025
Chief Financial Officer Mathieu Zahui openly defended the operation: “The grant was provided to an African organization… a grant can pay for people. Yeah, granted, they were in D.C.”
That wasn’t the only arrangement. Multiple grants to African groups, such as the Association of Ghana Industries and CS Consulting, were made contingent upon hiring specific D.C. entities like Pyxera Global and the Center for Strategic and International Studies — bypassing competition and transparency entirely.
Under CEO C.D. Glin (2016–2021), a former Obama appointee and Peace Corps DEI officer, grants were used to steer money back to D.C. allies. One such deal included a grant ostensibly meant for artisan support in Ghana — with strings attached requiring a contract with Artisan Alliance, a Colorado-based nonprofit linked to the Aspen Institute. The grant served no real need, but it did benefit a personal friend of Glin, according to internal videotaped interviews.
When African partners raised red flags — stating they neither needed nor wanted such contracts — agency officials simply moved to another partner until they got compliance. One Kenyan group bluntly told the agency: “We don’t need to pay Artisan Alliance, an American company, to help Kenyans learn how to sell masks.”
These were not isolated or misunderstood initiatives. They were systematic.
Former general counsel Mateo Dunne and other insiders described a workplace culture where contractors — who weren’t officially government employees — were still allowed to oversee staff, control credit cards, and allocate funds, in clear violation of federal rules. Employees who questioned the legality of these tactics were either ignored or sidelined.
One staffer admitted, “I’m not a fan of DOGE, but some of the things they’re doing need to be done.” The same people who now decry DOGE’s dismantling of the agency “did nothing to help fix it” when it mattered.
Perhaps most damning is the case of Zahui himself. His phone was seized by the USAID inspector general, revealing payments from a contractor whose business he had helped secure. He hasn’t yet been charged — but his actions and statements paint a disturbing picture of impunity and systemic rot.