President William Ruto on November 8, 2024, announced that the government of Kenya is set to embark on a nationwide livestock vaccination programme against diseases starting from January 2025.
The President while speaking during the Maa Cultural Festival held in Samburu County said 22 million cattle and 50 million goats and sheep will be vaccinated.
He explained that the programme will help prevent animal diseases and thus secure the international market for livestock products.
“This will ensure we access both national and international markets for our livestock products,” he said.
However, the president’s plan has faced disapproval from majority of Kenyans including a section of livestock owners and opposition leaders led by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
Musyoka while urging Kenyans to reject the proposal claimed that the government had a sinister motive for the vaccination.
He further claimed the vaccines would alter the genetic structure of livestock, ultimately causing animals to “cease emitting methane gas into the atmosphere.”
“The nationwide programme, set to roll out in the coming months, is being marketed as part of the government’s environmental protection efforts. However, this proposal reeks of a sinister foreign agenda and is deeply concerning to pastoralist communities and the nation at large,” Kalonzo said on November 16.
The disapproval has even seen a section of livestock owners vow to fail complying with the government’s directive.
Vaccinate my Livestock campaign launched
Following the fierce opposition, the government launched a new campaign on social media platform X with the hashtag #VaccinateMyLivestock in a move to explain what it entails and why Kenyans should support of the plan.
The message being virtualized in the pro-Ruto campaign includes explaining the benefits of the vaccination program.
Also Read: Govt Clarifies Reason for Nationwide Cattle Vaccination After Kalonzo’s Warning
One of the posters explaining “Why President William Ruto is advocating for Livestock Vaccination” read:
1.Prevents Diseases: Controls foot-and-mouth disease and other livestock illnesses.
2. Boosts Exports: Improves meat quality for global market access.
3. Supports Pastoralists: Ensures better incomes by improving livestock survival rates.
4. Enhances Food Security: Provides a steady supply of healthy livestock for consumption.
5. Promotes Local Vaccines: Utilises safe, locally produced vaccines by KEVEVAPI.
6. Prevents Zoonotic Risks: Reduces the transmission of diseases from animals to humans.
7. Improves Animal Welfare: Prevents suffering through proactive disease prevention.
8. Strengthens the Economy: Revitalises the livestock setor and drives national growth.
9. Expands Opportunities: Opens regional and global markets for Kenyan livestock products.
10. Modernises Agriculture: Aligns with government efforts to promote self-reliance.
Another poster explained that this programme, utilizing locally produced vaccines by the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute (KEVEVAPI), aims to combat transboundary diseases like foot-and-mouth disease, enhance livestock health, and unlock Kenya’s potential in the global meat export market.
Ruto calls out those opposed to the vaccination
This comes days after President Ruto maintained that the planned nationwide vaccination of livestock will go on regardless of the opposition by Kenyans and some politicians, explaining its importance in getting rid of diseases.
Ruto while speaking in Wajir during the annual pastoralists’ leadership summit said the exercise will ensure the country is free of diseases so that they can be allowed to export some livestock products to foreign markets.
“We want to create a disease-free country so that we can market our livestock products to destinations where we have been denied access due to disease control inadequacies,” he said.
Telling off those opposed to the programme, Ruto asserted, “Anybody opposing vaccination to eliminate FMD and PPR is simply mad and unreasonable and possibly stupid.”
“Honestly, how else can you explain? or maybe they do not have cattle, maybe they don’t understand what this is all about,” he remarked.
The tough-talking head of state further said it was foolhardy for leaders to continue misleading the public about the intention of the exercise.
Githunguri MP Gathoni WaMuchomba is also among those who are voiced concerns over the exercise, terming it a globalist agenda with negative outcomes that should not be allowed to see the light of day.
“I wish to change from the onset; this is not our idea. It is a foreign idea being pushed to us with some clear intentions and deliverables,” she stated.
At least 22 million cattle and 50 million goats and sheep are set be vaccinated for Food and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in the programme set for January 2025.
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