UPDATE: The Parliamentary Committee on Environment, Forestry and Mining has recommended that Parliament approves the granting of Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities to The Global Centre for Adaptation (A climate change organisation registered in Netherlands).
This means, GCA will have
1: Immunity from suit and Legal Processes.
2. Involability of premises occupied as offices meaning the host country cannot enter or interfere with the premise without their consent.
3. Exemption from taxes and rates on importation of goods.
4. The Director, officials and Staff will be immune from suit and Legal Process in things done in the course of official duties.
5. Exemption from Direct tax on emoluments received by officers or servants of the organisation.
Picture thisâŠ
In December 2023, the Global Center for Adaptation (GCA), led by Dutch professor Patrick Verkooijen quietly gives the University of Nairobi about âŹ1.2 million for a climate-related research partnership.
A generous act, right?
But just weeks later, in January 2024, President William Ruto appoints that very same Patrick Verkooijen as Chancellor of the University of Nairobi ,the same university that had just received money from his organization.
Then the story shifts.
In the Netherlands, Global Center on Adaptationâs own home country, the Government starts to lose faith.
By 2025, Dutch ministries ,including Infrastructure & Water and Foreign Affairs announce theyâre withdrawing funding the Global Center on Adaptation , citing budget issues, governance concerns, and questions of political entanglementâŠ
Translation: they no longer trust how itâs being run.
Yet while the Netherlands is pulling away, Kenya is leaning inâŠIn July 2025, Ruto and Verkooijen stand side by side in Nairobi, smiling for the cameras as they host a groundbreaking ceremony for GCAâs new African headquarters.,They call it a âdual headquartersâ in Rotterdam(Netherlands )and Nairobi.
But the truth is simple, the Dutch government wants nothing more to do with it, and the organization is already shifting its base entirely to Kenya.
Then, without public debate, another move happens.
On May 2, 2025, Kenya quietly publishes Legal Notice No. 82 of 2025 , officially granting GCA diplomatic-style immunity under the Privileges and Immunities Act.
That means this foreign NGO now operates above Kenyan lawâŠIt canât be sued, canât be investigated, canât be audited, and its offices are legally untouchable ,even by governmentđłđł
And as if thatâs not enough, the same NGO will now house Kenyaâs Ministry of Environment inside its new headquarters ,the very ministry meant to regulate environmental policy and partnerships like this one.
All this⊠happened in under two years.
If this is what âclimate partnershipâ looks like,
then maybe itâs time we start asking whoâs really adapting to who.
Why does such an NGO need a diplomatic style immunity?
Here is my full video on the same https://t.co/nHH74l9OKL
@GCAdaptation why does such you need immunity?
@magwaz3 The reason as to why #RAILAmustfall is he is part of the Kenyan government that has really lied to its citizens right left and centre, even to the world. As a Kenyan, and an African #RAILAmustfall
On Love And Life Today!
Is the move by President Uhuru Kenyatta to pardon candidates who committed various irregularities during the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam Right or Wrong? Why? Call us on 0719038963 #ANTOnaOBINNA@antoneosoul@ogaobinna
@NationFMKe@antoneosoul@ogaobinna Hio haifai coz not every time you expect favors. Plus my make them harvest what they didn't plant? Ni sawa but will that make their life better or worse.
Also wished he would have waited for form 4 students to be done with the exams. #ANTOnaOBINNA
@NationFMKe@antoneosoul@ogaobinna So Mr. Mutahi's joy is to see his great grand children strive to pay loans that never even used. Mutahi's we are not the people who kopa loans and let our kids pay them. #ANTOnaOBINNA
@NationFMKe@antoneosoul@ogaobinna Kenyans are not hypocritical but very true in the sense that tukikopa hizi loans we really know venye tutalipa. Wen we complain to IMF is because tunajua vitu kwa ground venye hu enda. #ANTOnaOBINNA