Immunity: Why the Gates Foundation is stoking controversy

A video on YouTube from 2021 recently emerged, showing tech mogul and philanthropist Bill Gates being confronted by angry crowds in London. The seemingly irate crowd was shouting “Arrest Bill Gates” amid other ramblings, while accusing him of being a “murderer.”

According to Newsweek, an online US publication, Gates was in the UK capital to dine with the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson — another controversial figure. Johnson had invited 20 of the most influential business figures in the world to an event to help ‘promote British interests internationally’.

Gates, one of the world’s richest people, has been at the centre of unfounded conspiracy theories involving the Covid-19 pandemic and the development of vaccines.

Among the claims made about the Microsoft founder was the idea that he wanted to use Covid-19 vaccinations to implant microchips in populations.

Here in Kenya, Gates has been in the headlines after his philanthropy vehicle, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he founded with his former wife, was granted immunity status by the government.

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Legal rights

Although the Law Society of Kenya filed a case that led to the suspension of these privileges under the Privileges and Immunities Act, experts argue that the foundation sought to protect itself against possible prosecution if, and when, it is accused of undermining the legal rights of citizens and local organisations that could be in conflict with it.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has shown a keen interest in establishing a regional office in Nairobi.

Daniel Maingi, an agricultural and science policy analyst, claims that the foundation could use these privileges to avoid scrutiny of its activities, especially its financial dealings and influence on public policy.

“Immunity and other privileges work for many organisations with a considerable presence in Kenya. This time, it’s a mistake to give it to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which, by assumption, can be extended to all affiliates like the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) by just slapping on the Bill and Melinda Gates privilege badge, depending on the needs and circumstances.”

Dr Maingi adds that immunity from legal action for acts done in the course of official duties has ‘huge implications for Kenya’s sovereignty and national interests’.

“If anything goes wrong, who pays for technological mishaps? Not Gates,” he says.

Domino effect

Outside of Kenya, many worry that the decision will create a domino effect, as other nations are pressured to follow suit, offering immunity to Bill Gates’s private foundation to entice the billionaire to direct more resources into national social programmes.

According to Maingi, Western countries have too much scrutiny and rules, and the potential for lawsuits is high. But African countries such as Kenya have shown a willingness to pause “rules and precautions” and lower the entry of new technologies.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation being granted immunity status and special privileges in Kenya is not a big surprise. Without much public participation, including a parliamentary debate, Maingi says, “They exploited a loophole given to many organisations (like the UN and even the Red Cross) already enjoying these perks.”

Dr Fanuel Letting, a seed scientist and lecturer at the University of Eldoret, holds a different opinion on the foundation being granted immunity in Kenya. “Philanthropists like Bill Gates being in the agriculture and healthcare sectors will help increase food production and improve healthcare in the country and Africa,” he says.

Another controversial issue linked to the foundation is the nationwide animal vaccination project that President William Ruto spoke about during the Maa Cultural Festival in November.

In his speech, President Ruto emphasised that it will help enhance productivity and efficiency, disease prevention and control, and improve animal welfare and public health protection. But Maingi warned of the dangers of ‘free vaccines’ and the dependency syndrome. “Once you give ‘free vaccines,’ you will have to pay through the nose for booster shots and seasonal and yearly shots — without the guarantee that your animal products will get a clean, sanitary certificate to export to the lucrative and sensitive markets in the Western world,” said Maingi.

However, constantly evolving livestock pathogens make it hard for one version of the vaccine to be effective for long.

In this case, the Kenyan Animal Vaccination Institute, without relying on the International Livestock Research Institute, would need to develop a Research and Development industry to constantly surveil and innovate new vaccines to keep up with herd immunity and the demands of the meat industry.

The vaccine industry, according to experts, is a significant global market, with a projected value of $17.27 billion in 2024. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent from 2024 to 2034, reaching a value of $44.79 billion by 2034.

However, according to Letting, the nationwide vaccination of cows in Kenya, set to begin in January 2025, is out of goodwill and is primarily aimed at preventing animal diseases and securing international markets for livestock products.

“To secure the export market, Kenya must focus on vaccinating livestock against several key diseases that are considered transboundary and can significantly impact trade,” he says.

The programme targets vaccinating 22 million cattle and 50 million goats and sheep against diseases such as foot-and-mouth, Rift Valley fever, and Newcastle.

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, has also criticised the move, suggesting it is a globalist agenda “aimed at reducing methane emissions from livestock through genetic modification.”

But the government has dismissed the claims and clarified that the vaccination programme was targeted at transboundary animal diseases and will be voluntary.

According to Maingi, Bill Gates is strategically employing ‘philanthro-capitalism’, where he has imposed stringent, industrial-scale breeder protection rules on seeds and universities.

“Many indigenous African and community seeds have been subsumed into the global intellectual property regime. As a consequence, communities that have accepted Bill and Melinda Gates-related funding relinquish ownership rights over their seed heritage. This strategy has left communities vulnerable, forcing them to purchase seeds and abide by restrictive patent and breeder protection laws, ultimately enriching agrochemical seed corporations,” says Maingi.

Brewed rebellion

The new directive by the government requiring farmers to register themselves and obtain certificates before buying or selling seeds and animals has brewed rebellion, with some political leaders and activists, especially in the Mt Kenya region, using the proposed laws and directives to engender opposition.

However, according to Letting, farmers being registered and issued certificates “will help us manage and trace the animals being traded to where they are from and where they are being sold. This will also help identify malpractices that could happen in the purchase of animals and crops.”

Letting suggests that, in the wake of climate change, developing drought-tolerant and disease-tolerant seeds is important in ensuring food security in Africa.

Maingi and Letting both agree on the need to support farmers to work with nature, improve their seeds through research and co-creation, support farmer-managed seed systems and agroecology, and recognise farmers as owners of their seeds.

Much of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation controversy is believed to stem from historical perceptions of population control by Margaret Sanger, a birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She popularised the term “birth control,” opened the first birth control clinic in the US and established organisations that pushed this course.

 “The Government should tailor regulations to the specific needs of different types of farmers, such as small-scale and industrial-scale producers. Farmers should also be encouraged and supported to manage seed systems that allow them to exchange and save seeds without excessive regulation,” he says.

Gates, in a famous TEDx talk on YouTube, neatly ties the need to innovatively join population growth with vaccines in genetically modified (GMO) plants. He links this to reproductive health (cervical cancer vaccine for preteens) and to reduce carbon emissions.

But Dr Maingi says Bill Gates addresses these issues in Africa by channeling his might and power “through pseudo-philanthropy dripping in capitalistic drives.”

“The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is driven by a flurry of unprecedented emerging scientific discoveries and promises - technologies that would need a lot of testing and peer examination to determine the risks and benefits,” says Dr Maingi.

Much of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation controversy is believed to stem from historical perceptions of population control by Margaret Sanger, a controversial birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She popularised the term “birth control,” opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established organisations that pushed this course.