The Department of Government Efficiency’s dramatic takeover of multiple federal agencies has uncovered what appears to be serious financial misconduct at the U.S. African Development Foundation, according to law enforcement documents obtained by The Daily Wire.
Mathieu Zahui, the foundation’s chief financial officer who made headlines when he led a “resistance” and refused to allow the DOGE team entry to the agency’s headquarters, had allegedly been steering no-bid contracts worth nearly $800,000 to a company owned by a longtime friend. According to a search warrant affidavit, this friend then secretly wired money to Zahui’s personal bank account.
The standoff at the African Development Foundation mirrored a similar confrontation at the United States Institute of Peace, where staff reportedly barricaded themselves inside the building to prevent DOGE teams from gaining access in March.
Zahui and the ADF board also refused to allow DOGE access to their accounting books. In both cases, federal judges ruled in favor of the Trump administration, affirming the president’s authority to remove board members, get access to the their books, and appoint new leadership.
According to The Daily Wire report, USAID’s inspector general had been investigating Zahui since at least early 2024, discovering text messages showing at least eight wire transfers totaling over $10,000 from Maina Gakure, owner of Ganiam Ltd., to Zahui’s Bank of America account. These payments allegedly coincided with the foundation’s awarding of sole-source contracts to Ganiam.
One transaction that has gained attention was a $350,000 contract for “transport, travel, relocation” services executed in March 2020, when COVID restrictions had largely halted travel. Zahui reportedly admitted to investigators that the contract was actually used for IT services despite Ganiam having no expertise in this area, forcing the company to subcontract the work—a practice Treasury officials said violated federal rules.
When DOGE officials attempted to access the agency’s financial records in February, Zahui stalled them and later told the White House that staff would not recognize Trump’s appointment of Pete Marocco as acting chairman because he hadn’t been confirmed by the Senate. This refusal led to the physical confrontation that required U.S. Marshals to intervene.
Beyond the Ganiam contracts, whistleblowers had alerted Sen. James Risch, R-I.D., about other financial irregularities, including a possible $2 million deposit into a Ghanaian bank account and millions in agency funds scattered across accounts throughout Africa. Zahui acknowledged to The Daily Wire that the foundation has approximately $9.7 million “held outside treasury” in various countries, including places where the agency hasn’t operated for years.
After gaining access to the building and financial records, the Trump administration quickly dismantled both USAID and the African Development Foundation, fulfilling their campaign promises to stop wasteful federal spending and uncover corruption that was allowed to fester in the Washington, D.C. “swamp” under previous administrations.