As Uganda begins rolling out the long-awaited R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, former presidential candidate Joseph Kabuleta has launched a scathing attack on the initiative, claiming it poses serious health risks and represents what he describes as a covert campaign to harm poor children.
The ministry of Health introduced the malaria vaccine into Uganda’s national routine immunization schedule in early April 2025. The vaccine, designed to protect against Plasmodium falciparum—the deadliest malaria parasite—is administered in four doses at 6, 7, 8, and 18 months of age and initially targets children under two in 105 high-risk districts.
The government hails it as a critical step toward reducing the more than 100,000 child deaths linked to malaria annually. In a now-viral 11-minute video shared widely across social media, Kabuleta urges parents to resist the vaccination campaign and accuses the ministry of Health of planning a “door-to-door forced vaccination drive.”
“If they can’t respect your child’s safety, take them out of kindergarten. Whatever it takes—just do it,” he implores in the video.
“They will be going compound to compound, rounding up under-five-year-olds to vaccinate them with a very controversial vaccine.”
Kabuleta alleges that the malaria vaccine being deployed is unsafe, referencing pilot rollouts in Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi. He claims Kenya halted its use, Ghana withdrew after citing hazards to children, and Malawi’s data showed limited protection—just 30 percent effectiveness, which he says wanes within six months.
“They brought it back in 2015, tested it again. Kenya quickly stopped. Ghana saw it was hazardous and only agreed to continue if the vaccine manufacturers were held liable—like they would be in the West,” Kabuleta says.
He cites Peter Abbes, a researcher from the University of Southern Denmark, claiming that the vaccine causes a tenfold increase in meningitis, seizures, hallucinations and even cerebral malaria—the deadliest form of the disease. He further claims a 24 percent increase in mortality, adding, “One in four children who get the vaccine might die.”
He concludes with a chilling warning, claiming that powerful elites and “billionaires who believe the world is overpopulated” are using African children as test subjects, while local health officials allegedly profit from international support.
“The poor will die and be buried. The billionaires will rejoice. And someone in the Ministry of Health will be completing a block of flats,” he said.
WHAT KABULETA GETS WRONG
However, several of Kabuleta’s assertions are factually incorrect or misleading. According to the World Health Organization’s Full Evidence Report on RTS,S/AS01, the pilot programs in Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi demonstrated significant impact, showing a 30 percent reduction in severe malaria and a 21 percent reduction in hospitalizations, both statistically significant.
While the vaccine doesn’t offer complete immunity, public health experts emphasize it as a vital complement to existing tools like mosquito nets and indoor spraying. Contrary to Kabuleta’s claims, Kenya did not cancel its rollout.
The country faced logistical disruptions, including health worker strikes in 2020 and early 2021, which temporarily slowed vaccine coverage. The report notes that Kenya’s immunization program quickly rebounded afterward.
Similarly, Ghana’s vaccination drive was affected by delayed shipments, not safety issues. The WHO confirmed that adverse effects reported during the rollout were not causally linked to the vaccine, and national regulatory authorities raised no major safety concerns.
“The RTS,S/AS01 vaccine has been carefully monitored and reviewed through pilot programs,” the WHO report concludes.
“Coverage for the first dose has consistently exceeded 70% across targeted populations.” Contacted by The Observer, Emmanuel Ainebyoona, senior public relations officer at the ministry of Health, dismissed Kabuleta’s claims as baseless conspiracy theories.
“Joseph Kabuleta is a known anti-vaxxer. He opposed Covid-19 vaccines and is now doing the same with the malaria vaccine,” Ainebyoona said.
“The R21/Matrix-M vaccine being used has been endorsed by credible institutions, including the World Health Organization.” He emphasized that the vaccine is part of a multi-pronged malaria strategy and that Uganda would not endanger its children with unsafe health products.
Kabuleta’s video underscores the growing challenge of vaccine hesitancy in Uganda, fueled by misinformation and distrust in institutions. While his concerns resonate with some parents, public health experts warn that rejecting scientifically vetted vaccines could have dire consequences.
At its core, this controversy reflects a wider tension between public health policy and populist skepticism. As Uganda ramps up its vaccine rollout, the government will need not just logistics and funding—but a clear, consistent narrative to counter fear with facts.
For now, while the Ministry of Health presses forward with its mission to save lives, voices like Kabuleta’s serve as a potent reminder that scientific success must be matched by public confidence—or risk being undone by rumor and fear.
We all know that this malaria vaccine, among other vaccines, is a scheme orchestrated by bill gates of hell and the globalists. MoH, Ainebyona et al., can’t say much different than doing the generic PR for the deadly vaccines, or else they lose funding. He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Most likely Kabureta wants to be seen as RELEVANT, we all know WHO tested the doses and Approved”, so how does a Non-Medic start saying Lugambo, and useless Lugambo at that Ga-C-Ya!
Kabuleeta is a misinformed confuser trying to gain public attention. I wonder if he would be alive today if his parents had rejected him getting childhood immunisations
WHO doesn’t have the moral authority, what did they say bout covid vaccine, in my village we have 200 house holds we haven’t lost any child over malaria for the last ten to 15 years. This makes the vaccine useless.
Like Trump!
Kabuleta, controversial as he has always been, does not even offer an alternative. So, is he happy when parents keep losing their children due to a preventable disease like malaria?
Does he know the pain of losing a child just because of malaria that now has the vaccine as part of the prevention toolbox? Does he appreciate the over-30 year investments and the sacrifices made by the scientific community and public health experts to research the vaccine, the first of it’s kind to target a parasite, as opposed to the usual bacteria and viruses?
For the people he is discouraging from accepting the vaccine for their children, does he pay their hospital bills when their children are severely sick with malaria, and they lose an income because they have to miss work to take care of their sick children, or lose their hard-earned money in paying endless bills?
Or, does he pay for the burial expenses when they lose their children due to malaria? Kabuleta is just an enemy to mankind and his rants should be treated with utmost contempt. He is actually a criminal and should be arrested and charged for sabotaging a well meaning public health intervention.
WHO lost it in the COVID 19 saga!, Mr. Kabuleeta has a valid reason to dissuade wanainchi from risking their little ones’lives!.