No, Kenya is not leaving the World Health Organization in 2025
IN SHORT: Social media posts are claiming that Kenya has withdrawn from the WHO, but there is no official evidence to support this.
A video on social media has sparked claims that Kenya is following the United States out of the World Health Organization, or WHO. The video features Dr Wahome Ngare, a Kenyan obstetrician gynaecologist, criticising the WHO and urging African nations to be cautious.
In the video, Ngare says: "We cannot afford to trust WHO anymore, your excellency, and I'll just mention a few things that have caused great concern to us. In 2014 and 2015, WHO launched a tetanus eradication campaign in our country. It was a campaign to eradicate neonatal tetanus."
He goes on to claim that the WHO's vaccination programme in Kenya had left women sterile.
The video being circulated has text overlaying the image that reads "Kenya withdrawls from the World Health Organization". Many of those reposting the video are doing so with the caption "Kenya withdraws from WHO".
This viral claim follows US president Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from WHO, as confirmed by his signing of an executive order on 20 January 2025. Some social media users are calling on African countries to follow suit.
Trump previously cut ties with the WHO during his first term as president, in 2020, but his successor president Joe Biden reversed the decision in 2021. The US, a major contributor to the WHO, will officially leave the organisation on 22 January 2026.
Ngare has a history of opposing vaccines and has been known to spread misinformation about them. But is this video accurate?
Old video, unrelated
A reverse image search of keyframes from the video revealed that it was originally posted on Ngare's Facebook page on 30 May 2024.
Ngare was speaking at the African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on family values and sovereignty in Uganda. The video does not mention Kenya's withdrawal from the WHO.
In a comment below his Facebook post, he also shared a link to the full speech published by the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association. The speech raises concerns about the WHO pandemic treaty and national sovereignty, not Kenya's withdrawal from the organisation.
On 30 January 2025, Ngare responded to the viral claims, clarifying that while he wanted Kenya to withdraw from the WHO, his comments about the pandemic treaty were specifically directed at the Ugandan president.
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"There seems to be widespread confusion. Some people don't realize that although I'm Kenyan, my remarks were directed at the President of #Uganda regarding the #pandemic treaty," he wrote.
"I genuinely wish Kenya would withdraw from the World Health Organization ... but I doubt any African president would have the courage to make such a bold move."
No evidence
Africa Check searched online and found no evidence that Kenya had withdrawn from the WHO.
According to local news reports, the country's state department for public service, PS Amos Gathecha, said the government would strengthen bilateral health partnerships to fill the funding and expertise gaps created by the US withdrawal from WHO.
There are no reports of Kenya withdrawing from the WHO. The video has been taken out of context.
