Kenya is on the brink of starting the process of vaccinating millions of livestock, effective January 2025. The head of state, President William Ruto, made the statement during the Maasai Cultural Festival in Samburu County.
The president, who spoke during the festival, also pledged a whopping Ksh 1 billion to families who lost their livestock to drought. At least 10,000 families lost their livestock during the period, resulting in massive losses of livelihoods. The government has allocated at least Ksh 1 billion for restocking.
“Mnajua mwaka ule mwingine tulikuwa na kiangazi kubwa, na watu wengi walipoteza mifugo yao. Kama serikali nataka wabunge wafuatulie. Tumesema ya kwamba wale watu waliathirika, familia zaidi, familia karibu elfu kumi ambayo mifugo yao yote ilipotea. Tumeweka pesa ya serikali shilingi billioni moja (Ksh1 billion) tufanye restocking,” said the president.
In collaboration with the members of parliament and county governments, the president pledged 55,000 goats and sheep through a government-sponsored program that will see families affected by drought getting restocked as first as possible.
“Na tumesema, kwa wale familia wanahitaji mbuzi na kondoo, elfu 55 tutanunua kama serikali na tuwapatie ili hizo familia waanze mahali pazuri so that no family is left behind. And we are going to work with MPs and county governments so that we make sure that we target the families that lost all their livestock as we work on the restocking process to make sure that those families that lost everything can be supported by a program that’s sponsored by the government,” president Ruto said.
Why Kenya is Planning to Vaccinate Millions of Livestock from 2025
For the first time, the government has embarked on a significant step to vaccinate 22 million cows and 55 million goats and sheep from January. The president claims that the vaccination drive is meant to curb livestock diseases, derailing the market demands.
“Kwa sababu tunataka kuondoa magonjwa ya mifugo. Nataka wafugaji mniskize vizuri. Hi January tunafanya national vaccination, ya ng’ombe zetu zote. Ng’ombe milioni 22 na mbuzi na kondoo milioni 50 kwanzia Janaury, mjitayarishe ndio tuweze kuondoa magonjwa ndio soko yetu ambayo tumefatuta ya nyama ndio tuweze kufikia hiyo soko.”
The national government will be working in conjunction with the county governments to ensure a smooth vaccination process across the country. The government claims to have access to an expansive market, both national and international, which the President said were ready for beef and mutton and other related products but have been derailed by livestock diseases.
“Kuna soko nyingi zimefungua huko nje kwa sababu ya mambo ya magonjwa, and that’s why, as government tumesema in January and we are going to work with the county governments na ni vizuri niseme katika mkutano huu ya wafugaji ya kwamba Janaury, we’re starting the process of vaccinating 22 million heads of cattle and 50 million heads of sheep and goats to make sure that we deal with the disease control so that we can access both national and international markets for our beef, our mutton, and all the other products that we’re working on,” president Ruto added.
The statement regarding eyebrows from concerned Kenyans, who went head-on to criticize the initiative, claiming of a foul at play. Narok Senate, Hon. Ledama Ole Kina, made strong resentment on X (formerly Twitter), repudiating the statement by the President. He said that his cows will not be vaccinated. Kenyans have likened the initiative to Bill Gates’ to have all cows in the developing economies vaccinated. Most of them said it is sinister—targeting livestock depopulation.
