Kenyan court temporarily blocks special immunity for pro-abortion Gates Foundation

NAIROBI, Kenya (LifeSiteNews) — The High Court of Kenya has temporarily suspended a preferential status given to the far-left Gates Foundation to pursue “charitable” work in the country, pending the final outcome of a legal challenge filed by the Law Society of Kenya.

Last month, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi announced that the government had entered into a cooperative agreement with the foundation for its work in support of “agriculture, healthcare, immunization, nutrition, sanitation, financial services, [so-called] gender equality, and [so-called] family planning”; granting it protection under Section 11 of the Privileges and Immunity Act, which gives designated individuals and entities immunity from lawsuits connected to their official duties, taxes on payment for their work in connection to those duties, from national service obligations, and from immigration restrictions.

“Family planning” is a common euphemism for abortion and contraception, which the Gates Foundation extensively funds. “Gender equality” is also often invoked to justify the practices.

Now, Nairobi Law Monthly reports that Justice Bahati Mwamuye has agreed to temporarily halt the privileges from being applied to the Foundation, pending the outcome of a trial about the decisions’ merits. The Standard adds that both sides have until December 10 to submit their arguments on the matter.

The Law Society of Kenya maintains that the special immunity would allow the Gates Foundation to exert broad influence over numerous policy areas without meaningful oversight.

“It is unfathomable that a private entity with no known national mandate would be granted consular status in Kenya, enabling it to operate with immunity under the Privileges and Immunities Act,” said LSK Chief Executive Officer Florence Muturi.

“These privileges are not a blank check but a carefully calibrated mechanism to enable organisations like the Gates Foundation to deliver impactful programmes without bureaucratic hindrance,” said Mudavadi in defense of the decision.

The Gates Foundation is notorious for its work advancing causes around the world that are far less innocuous than distributing medicine and technology. Over the years, it has spent heavily on climate alarmism and digital ID surveillance, in addition to abortion and contraception, as well as partnering with the United Nations Population Fund. Its founder, former Microsoft chief Bill Gates, also appointed himself a public health expert during the COVID-19 pandemic despite his lack of formal medical training, using his influence to promote lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

In 2011, Bill and then-wife Melinda Gates explained to Forbes that their “humanitarian” work ostensibly to extend lifespans in third world nations is motivated in part by the hope of reducing population size. 

With a current population of 56 million and a growth rate of 2.28 percent, Kenya has long been a target of population control activists. “Although the fertility rate is less than half of what it was decades ago, Kenya still sees rapid population growth,” according to World Population Review. “This is because there are many more families in Kenya today because of high fertility rates in the past, so women are having fewer children but there are more families having kids. Additionally, Kenyan life expectancy is increasing.”