Why Bill Gates is being dragged into a row over vaccinating cows in Kenya

The ambitious initiative to vaccinate all livestock in Kenya this week is scheduled amid fierce resistance from farmers led by misleading claims about vaccines.

Farmers will not cost anything to get their animal vaccination because the government says it is located the bill.

But Robert Nkoko, who maintains livestock in the Maiu area in Nakuro County – explained about 50 km (30 miles) northwest of the capital, Nairobi, how it became a toxic issue since President William Roto announced the plan last November.

“If society learns here that you are a supporter of confusion, they will slaughter you now. So stop talking about it, we do not want it,” he told the BBC.

The aim of the government is to vaccinate at least 22 million livestock and 50 million goats and sheep over three years.

Currently, only 10 % of the national herd gets the necessary vaccinations and the authorities say they want to raise this rate to 85 % to make livestock products in Kenya qualified to export.

The president, the owner of a farm and has many large flocks himself, said that the vaccines are vital to expanding the sector by controlling an epidemic.

But some of those who oppose the program believe that the founder of Microsoft Bill Gates is funding it and feeding it People who share videos of interviews Distinguishing it talks about the vaccination of cows to control methane emissions.

United Nations estimates show that methane, which was expelled by coding livestock and damage, contributes about 15 % of global emissions every year, as United Nations estimates appear. It is the most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2).

Jonathan Moki, a senior official at the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, denied that Gates would participate in the livestock vaccination program – adding that he had not provided the American billionaire and the improvement or other foreign sources funding.

But this did not stop the conspiracy theories that are distributed on social media, and often by high -level personalities.

Kalib Carroja, a former journalist and is now an influential farmer, Posted on X He will resist the strikes, saying that no one will not chip the livestock “because Bill Gates said that.”

Ledama Olekina, Senator opposition and prominent Masai sponsors, Books on x: “there [are] Millions of cows in Europe and America, and none of them are vaccinated because of the fret … the mines will not be vaccinated. “

Gates has previously invested in projects to reduce methane emissions from livestock It is funded by a US -based company looking to develop a vaccineAs well as other American investors.

But Professor Ermias Kibib of the University of California, Davis in the United States, who discussed how to reduce methane emissions from livestock, told the BBC that there was no vaccine in the livestock to reduce methane emissions in use.

“I wish we had one, but this is still under development – and no one arrived [the stage of] He said the test is in animals so far.

However, such assurances did not do much to put out a misunderstanding about the motives of the vaccine campaign.

Lack of confidence is paid by some opposition politicians, who said that vaccines will change the genetic makeup of livestock, which may lead to defective animals.

“Roto is reinforcing an evil foreign agenda. This plan is reckless and must be stopped,” said Calonso Mossiuka, the opposition leader, after a long time after the initiative was announced.

When the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) asked Mossiuka about the specific allegations that vaccines may be harmful to livestock, his spokesman said that the vaccination campaign was “a violation of the constitution.”

He added that he was “shrouded in secret” and the government did not share details about resources, implementation or technical details about vaccines.

The proposal that the livestock vaccines will change the geneticity of animals is misleading, according to Professor Ermias.

“It is very similar to the people who were immunized to fight various diseases. There is no report that it causes distortions or changes the DNA,” academic told the BBC.

President Roto rejected the opinions of those who oppose vaccines as “simply misleading, unreasonable and possibly stupid.”

“We are all vaccinated, has anyone stopped shooting?” Roto said, rejecting methane claims as “nonsense.”

However, analysts say that the spread of these conspiracy theories is due to the weak communication by Roto himself in addition to the low confidence in his government after anti -tax protests last year and a series of corruption scandals.

The government has faced a major violent reaction to the tax increases that have been brought since Roto became president in 2022 – which makes it very uncommon. Last June it was He was forced to withdraw a controversial financing bill This included more tax increases.

The government is now facing a “lack of confidence” in the way it has informed the livestock campaign.

When Roto I announced this for the first timeThe details were slim – and it was not clear that the animals would be vaccinated.

This is when the tools that monitor social media publications appear on X a clear rise in the signals of both gates and cows according to the calculations with their location listed in Kenya.

This anger grew to the issue of a national debate, so that cartoonists pushing the rights of cows on social media through the comic photos that were suspended “My Fart, My Conne”.

The Kenyan Veterinary Society (KVA) called on the government to stop the vaccination exercise and hold a public awareness campaign first.

“The politicization of the vaccination exercise negatively affected the entire campaign, which distracted the public’s attention from the goal of controlling diseases,” Dr. KVA, President of KVA, told the BBC.

But Dr. Alan Azijli, Director of Veterinary Services at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that it cannot be delayed, given the outbreak of anxiety and the last mouth in the western regions.

This forced many livestock markets to close this month – and the authorities have imposed a stone of strict quarantine in those places.

“We cannot wait … because it is more expensive to respond to the outbreak of the disease. We must be proactive instead of interaction,” Dr. Azigli told the BBC.

He said that the foot and the mouth did not have a specific treatment, which makes prevention through vaccination crucial.

The Minister of Agriculture, Kajoy, sought to reassure everyone that the exercise will be voluntary and pledged to involve all stakeholders to “treat the wrong information” surrounding this issue.

The government was also reassuring the public that vaccines were produced locally.

But some farmers are still pledged to resist the vaccination campaign, noting the potential foreign influence and lack of confidence in the government.

David Tiki, a livestock farmer in Kaggio Province, south of Nairobi, told the BBC that his animals would not allow pollination, pointing to safety concerns.

He said: “I think someone is trying to provide a virus to our livestock so that the wealthy can start selling poor farmers who may not give it.”

BBC spoke to one small farmer from Makini Province, southeast Nairobi, who welcomed the initiative.

But NGEMU Musau urged the government to make the entire process more transparent.

“I want to emphasize that Machiti will be fine after the vaccine,” he told the BBC.

“The government is needed for extensive public awareness campaigns.”