President William Ruto has strongly defended the government’s livestock vaccination program, dismissing critics who have linked the initiative to foreign interests, particularly Bill Gates.

In 2024, President Ruto announced that the country would conduct a nationwide vaccination drive across all 47 counties to eliminate livestock diseases.

During the launch of the Garissa County Livestock Vaccination Drive on February 6, 2025, Ruto expressed his frustration with those opposing the cattle vaccination, questioning the logic behind their resistance.

“I want to ask the people of Garissa – why would you listen to someone telling you not to vaccinate your cattle when they don’t even own any livestock themselves?” Ruto said.

He advised residents to disregard these claims, emphasizing that they have been vaccinating their cattle for years without issues and that this vaccination drive would be just like previous ones.

“You have been vaccinating your cattle all these years, and now someone comes here mixing English and Swahili, telling you to stop because of someone called Bill Gates,” Ruto asserted.

The President emphasized the local nature of the vaccination program, pointing out that the vaccines were produced at the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute in Kabete and administered by Kenyan veterinarians.

“Where is Bill Gates in Garissa? Is Bill Gates here in Garissa?” Ruto questioned rhetorically.

“These are our cattle, our veterinarians, and our vaccines made in Kabete. How does Bill Gates come into this? This is pure nonsense that should be ignored completely,” Ruto added.

Vaccination naysayers

Ruto’s comments were aimed at his strong critics, including Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who has been at the forefront of opposing the vaccination drive since the president announced it on November 8, 2024.

During a press conference on November 15, 2024, Kalonzo claimed that the proposed vaccination exercise harboured a hidden agenda, suggesting it could lead to complications for both cattle and human populations in the future.

“The proposed vaccination project has all the markings of a sinister foreign agenda. It does not augur well for the pastoralist groups and this nation as a whole,” Kalonzo said.

“The plan wants to introduce gene-modifying drugs into the Kenyan bovine livestock for them to ostensibly cease emitting methane gas into the atmosphere. We take note that these vaccinations developed overseas have been rejected everywhere else in the world, including in the United States of America,” Kalonzo added.

Kalonzo vowed to use every legal and constitutionally sanctioned means to prevent the vaccination exercise from taking place in the country.

“Do not let anyone near your cattle in the pretence of vaccination. The admission of these vaccines in Kenya is irresponsible and risky,” Kalonzo said.

Leave the discussion to experts

In response to his critics, Ruto argued that the vaccination campaign aims to eliminate livestock diseases, including foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), and urged individuals without knowledge of livestock rearing to leave the discussion to experts.

“I mean foot and mouth disease, and PPI are diseases which we have been fighting ever since I was born it is nothing new. So anybody opposing vaccination to eliminate FMD and PPI is simply mad and unreasonable and possibly stupid,” Ruto stated on December 10, 2024.

“Honestly, how else can you explain? maybe they don’t have cattle, they don’t understand what this is all about. So if you are used to planting things you don’t know about livestock, please, when we are having a conversation about livestock, shut up!” he insisted.