President William Ruto has addressed allegations circulating that the mass livestock vaccination is funded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
A section of Kenyans has been sharing videos of interviews featuring Gates discussing vaccinating cows to control methane emissions.
Methane expelled by livestock belching and farting contributes about 15% of global emissions each year, United Nation (UN) estimates show. It is the most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2).
While addressing Garissa residents on Thursday, February 6, during the launch of the vaccination drive, Ruto dismissed the claims stating that the vaccines are processed in Kenya and Bill Gates is not involved.
“You are listening to someone who plants green grams telling you not to vaccinate your cow, yet he doesn’t even own a cow. Will you follow the words of such a person when you have been vaccinating your cows all these years?” he posed.
“Then he comes here to speak a different kind of language, telling you not to vaccinate your cow, claiming that there is someone called Bill Gates. Bill Gates is not in Garissa.”
Ruto Denies Bill Gates Involvement in Livestock Vaccination
He added, “These cows are ours; the doctors are ours, and we have sourced this medicine from Kabete. So where does Bill Gates come in?” Ruto refuted the claims as “nonsense”.
Gates has previously invested in projects to reduce methane emissions from cattle and is funding a US-based company that is working to develop a vaccine, along with other US investors.
Also Read: Govt Clarifies Reason for Nationwide Cattle Vaccination After Kalonzo’s Warning
Even though senior government officials have in the past denied that Gates is involved in the livestock vaccination program—adding that neither the US billionaire and philanthropist nor any other foreign sources have provided funding—this has not stopped conspiracy theories from circulating on social media, often spread by high-profile personalities.
Narok Senator Ledama Olekina, and a prominent Maasai pastoralist, wrote on X: “There are millions of cows in Europe and America, and none of them are being vaccinated for farting … mine will not be vaccinated.”
Some opposition leaders have claimed that the vaccines will alter the genetic make-up of livestock, potentially leading to the creation of defective animals.
Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka called on Kenyans to reject attempts by the government to vaccinate livestock, stating that the government is trying to advance a foreign agenda by attempting to vaccinate the country’s cattle.
“We wish to state that from the very onset of the proposed vaccination program, I saw signs of a sinister motive driven by a foreign agenda. This does not augur well for the country’s pastoralist groups or for the nation as a whole,” Kalonzo said.
Also Read: Farmers to Show Vaccination Certificate Before Moving Livestock
Vaccination Certificate
This comes after Agriculture PS Jonathan Mueke, while accompanying President William Ruto in Wajir on Wednesday February 5, during the launch, announced that animals not vaccinated will require a certificate for movement.
“The vaccination certificate will indicate which animals have been vaccinated and which have not. Once animals have been vaccinated, the farmers whose animals have been vaccinated will be given certificates,” he said.
“Those who would not have vaccinated their livestock we will demand a vaccination certificate before we allow movement of animals so that we don’t spread diseases.”
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