Actress and social media influencer Wanjiku Stephens has lost her verified Instagram account — which had amassed more than 730,000 followers — following what she describes as censorship over her posts criticizing Bill Gates’ health and agricultural initiatives in Kenya.
Stephens, best known for her outspoken views on social and health matters, claimed that Instagram first flagged several of her posts as “false and malicious” before permanently banning her account.
“Bill Gates has finally succeeded. Hard for people to accept the truth,” Stephens wrote in a statement quoted by Buzz Room Kenya, shortly after her account disappeared from the platform.
While Stephens did not specify which specific post triggered the removal, her recent comments had taken aim at Gates-funded vaccine and agricultural programs, which have drawn both praise and sharp criticism in Kenya.
Growing Skepticism Over Gates’ Projects
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has long maintained a major footprint in Kenya, funding initiatives in family planning, agriculture, digital financial inclusion, and climate-smart livestock research. Its Nairobi branch works with local and global partners to boost economic livelihoods and improve healthcare access.
However, some of Gates’ latest projects — particularly those involving livestock vaccines designed to reduce methane emissions — have ignited political and public backlash.
Opposition politicians have voiced concerns that these vaccines could genetically alter livestock and potentially violate Kenya’s constitution. Critics also question whether large-scale philanthropic interventions can truly address Africa’s complex agricultural and social challenges.
Opinion pieces in outlets like Al Jazeera have echoed those sentiments, suggesting that Gates’ billions may be “too top-down” to effectively empower local communities. They advocate instead for agroecology, an approach that emphasizes small-scale, environmentally sustainable farming grounded in local knowledge.
Broader Philanthropic Debate
Beyond the vaccine controversy, the Gates Foundation’s initiatives include:
- Family Planning: Supporting rollout of a new eight-year hormonal IUD for women in Kenya.
- Digital Identity: Partnering on the Maisha Namba project to streamline government service access.
- Agricultural Innovation: Funding GMO seed research for drought resistance and projects tackling aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnuts.
- Economic Empowerment: Backing digital financial services for smallholder farmers and low-income entrepreneurs.
Despite these ambitions, the Foundation withdrew from a Host Country Agreement with Kenya in April 2025 after legal challenges, though it continues operations through partner organizations.
Censorship or Policy Enforcement?
Stephens’ account removal highlights a broader tension between online expression and platform moderation, especially on sensitive topics like global health policy.
Meta, which owns Instagram, has not publicly commented on the suspension, but the platform’s policy prohibits misinformation on public health or vaccine-related content.
For Stephens, however, the episode underscores what she views as a silencing of dissenting voices in global health debates.
The story about her IG account being closed has been trending on social media.
