Diplomatic immunity for Gates in Kenya

While nations around the world have long treated Bill Gates as a head of state, it’s now been practically codified into law in Kenya.

Last week, the government announced that the Gates Foundation—and its “servants”—would be granted diplomatic immunity, a privilege normally given to foreign officials, like ambassadors. The foundation’s new ‘special status’ includes “immunity from legal action for acts done in the course of official duties,” according to Kenyan news reports.

Across the nation, the decision has raised alarm bells. One public advocate petitioned the government for documents undergirding its decision, noting that Gates’s diplomatic immunity has “implications for Kenya’s sovereignty and for national interests.”