By Maleshoane Ratsebe
A viral Facebook post alleges that the Namibian President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has denied the Gates Foundation’s proposal to conduct medical trials of a hormonal intrauterine device (IUD) designed to prevent pregnancy for up to eight years in Namibia. The post is FALSE.
The post, made on August 8th, further quoted the president saying Namibia is a small country of modest growth in comparison to the United States and as such, its progress should not be hindered. It alleges “the President condemned the Initiative as a profound injustice to the Namibian people and humanity at large.”
The claim has since gained public interest on social media and has been shared by various pages such as African Hub, Dr Culum Miller, Typical Africa, sparking animated discussions on the internet. Foreign online news sources such as the Lusaka Times also reported the allegations.
To verify the authenticity of the claim, CheckDesk, MISA Lesotho reviewed public statements by the Namibian president via official channels. The CheckDesk established that the government declared the claim false, stamping the viral post as ‘fake.’
While The Gates Foundation has gone public about committing $2.5 billion in women’s health through 2030 on August 4th 2025, there have been no reports on the organisation’s website or social media pages about the alleged proposal to the Namibian government.
In fact, non-hormonal contraception has been identified as another area with potential breakthroughs.
In further refuting the claim, the Namibian presidential spokesperson, Jonas Mbambo clarified that “the Namibian public would be aware if there were such ongoing discussions” between the government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in an audio interview with Future News Media, a Namibian powerhouse with a number of media houses under its belt.
Misleading misinformation of this kind runs the risk of putting a strain on International relations and partnerships as The Gates Foundation has already been catching strays of making Africa a lab rat in the comments section.
This fact-check was produced by Maleshoane Ratsebe, CheckDesk, MISA Lesotho, as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA) incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with MISA Lesotho. Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/
