Judicial Watch Sues U.S. African Development Foundation for Financial Records and Attempt to Stop DOGE Audits

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) for records regarding its expenditures and deposits, as well as its attempt to block Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) audits (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. African Development Foundation (No. 1:25-cv-02623)).

 Congress created the African Development Foundation in 1980 to invest in small businesses in Africa.

Judicial Watch sued the African Development Foundation after it failed to respond to a July 7, 2025, FOIA request for communications, contracts and grants “involving Ganiam Ltd. (Nairobi, Kenya) and Ganiam LLC (Fairfax, Virginia).” According to its website, Ganiam “specializes in environmental engineering services, commissioning, construction management services, real estate due diligence support services (appraisal, title work, historical consultations, survey work, etc.) and facility maintenance support.”

Judicial Watch also asks for the communications of African Development Foundation President Travis Adkins and Chief Financial Officer Mathieu Zahui, as well as records related to deposits into a bank account in Ghana in February 2023, as referenced in Sen. James Risch’s (R-ID) November 2023 letter to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Inspector General.

Also Judicial Watch is requesting conflict-of-interest disclosures and ethics pledges, as well as payments or grants to Root Capital of Cambridge, MA, and records regarding Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. of Los Angeles, CA. Other requested records pertain to whistleblower retaliation investigations and the denial of entry to DOGE.

In March 2024, the Office of Inspector General for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it was “initiating an inspection of the United States African Development Foundation.” In August 2024, the Office of Inspector General issued a management advisory, in which it reported: “USADF officials knew of suspected misuse of foundation funds and equipment purchased through foundation grants but failed to report this to the OIG as required.”

In February 2025, President Trump issued an executive order, calling for the African Development Foundation to be scaled back to the minimum presence required by law. Trump also fired the agency’s board members.

In March 2025, the African Development Foundation headquarters in DC reportedly blocked DOGE workers from entrance.

In September 2025, the Government Accountability Office published a report examining fraud risk management at the African Development Foundation, which states that the foundation “had some policies and procedures to mitigate fraud, waste, and abuse, but no strategic approach, from fiscal year 2020 through 2024.”

“For a small agency, there appears to be a very large number of questions to which American taxpayers deserve answers,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  

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