KENYA- HIGH COURT BARS GOVERNMENT FROM IMPORTING AND DISTRIBUTING GMOs

The Ruto administration suffered a major blow today after High Court sitting in Nairobi stopped the Government from Importing or distributing any GMO crops and food.

In a petition filed by the Kenyan Peasants League (KPL), the petitioners opposed the importation, cultivation and consumption of GMO crops and food arguing that they posed a deadly health hazard to Kenyans, particularly the poor and those of low income.

In his affidavit, the leader of the Kenyan Peasants League Mr Cidi Otieno relied on the recent statements by Moses Kuria where the CS stated that “there was nothing wrong with adding GMOs to the list of the things that can kill Kenyans.” He argued that such a statement from the CS in charge of the Kenya Bureau of Standards meant that the GMOs were indeed dangerous for human consumption and that the actions of the Government threaten the health and human life contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of Kenya. Mr Otieno further argued that if indeed the government needed to mitigate hunger, it was free to import safe maize from neighbouring Tanzania or other countries, rather than import food that would lead to long term diseases of the consumers.

Mr Kevin Oriri, the lawyer for the KPL stressed that the injunctive orders prohibit the government from gazetting the Cabinet Decision that lifted the ban of GMOs in Kenya. The orders also prohibit the government, either directly or through any other entity from importing or distributing any GMO crops and foods in the Country. He further stated that there was no public participation that led to the lifting of the ban on GMOs in Kenya.

Mr Otieno declared that the Kenyan Peasants League shall push on with the struggle to promote peasant agroecology for food sovereignty, and that they will continue fighting against the neoliberal tendencies that kill local agriculture, threaten food safety and alienate ordinary producers and consumers from decision making on agriculture and food.

The Ruling by Lady Justice Mugure Thande comes at a time when the CS Moses Kuria was insistent on importing GMOs into Kenya. The position of Kuria has led to a widespread cry from Kenyans, including some of the UDA MPs from the farming regions.