A senior official at the African Development Foundation (ADF) is under federal investigation after allegedly steering nearly $800,000 in taxpayer-funded foreign aid contracts to a personal friend — and then pocketing secret payments in return.
Mathieu Zahui, the ADF’s Chief Financial Officer, reportedly resisted oversight from President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was created to clean up bureaucratic waste and corruption across federal agencies. Now, he’s at the center of a growing scandal that highlights exactly why DOGE’s reforms are so necessary.
Federal investigators have revealed that Zahui funneled lucrative, no-bid contracts to Ganiam Ltd., a company owned by longtime associate Maina Gakure. Financial records show Gakure then sent money directly to Zahui’s personal bank account while the contracts were active — raising red flags of kickbacks and self-dealing.
Zahui has claimed the payments were unrelated and that the sole-source contracts were issued purely for “convenience,” but investigators aren’t buying it. The scheme appears to be part of a broader pattern of mismanagement and financial misconduct within the agency.
Further complicating matters, Zahui admitted to maintaining offshore accounts containing dormant foreign aid funds — some tied to countries where ADF no longer even operates. When pressed, he claimed efforts to recover the money had failed due to “technical issues.”
The situation escalated when Zahui and other ADF officials refused to recognize a Trump-appointed acting chairman of the agency. Their defiance triggered intervention by U.S. Marshals, who were dispatched to secure agency records and prevent further obstruction.
This scandal not only underscores the rot in America’s foreign aid bureaucracy but also vindicates President Trump’s aggressive push for oversight and reform. The Department of Government Efficiency was created precisely to expose and eliminate these kinds of abuses — and now it’s doing just that.
As the investigation unfolds, questions remain about how many more foreign aid officials may be involved in similar schemes. One thing is clear: American taxpayers deserve better than bureaucrats lining their own pockets with money meant to support U.S. interests abroad.
The post Foreign Aid Official Who Resisted DOGE Took Secret Payments After Steering Africa Money To Friend appeared first on Real News Now.
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