President William Ruto has reiterated that the planned nationwide livestock vaccination will proceed despite opposition from some politicians, emphasizing its critical role in combating diseases.
Ruto explained that the initiative aims to create a disease-free environment, facilitating the export of livestock products to international markets that have previously been inaccessible due to disease control challenges.
“We aim to ensure our country is free from disease, which will enable us to access markets that have been closed to us because of disease management shortcomings,” he said.
Addressing critics of the program, Ruto dismissed their stance as irrational, stating, “Anyone opposed to vaccination for the elimination of FMD and PPR is unreasonable, even foolish.”
“Honestly, how else can you explain? or may be they do not have cattle, may be they don’t understand what this is all about,” he remarked.
Speaking at the annual pastoralists’ leadership summit in Wajir, Ruto called out leaders who mislead the public regarding the program’s objectives.
The vaccination initiative, scheduled for January 2025, will target approximately 22 million cattle and 50 million goats and sheep for protection against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Peste des petits ruminants (PPR).
“It is the right to do, so if you are used to planting things… you don’t know about livestock, shut up, at least for those of us who keep cattle,” he said.
The vaccines will be produced locally by the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute (KEVEVAPI).
Ruto urged farmers to prepare for the vaccination and to ignore false narratives being spread by some leaders. As a cattlekeeper himself, he expressed his readiness for the program.
He emphasized that this vaccination effort is not new, as Kenya has been struggling with these diseases for many years.
Githunguri MP Gathoni Wa Muchomba, however, has voiced concerns about the initiative, describing it as a foreign agenda with potentially negative consequences that should not be allowed to proceed.
“I want to make it clear from the start; this is not our idea. It’s an external initiative being pushed with specific, questionable intentions,” she said.
