The Government’s intention to ban the 10-year genetically modified food ban has been put on hold.
The order from High Court Judge Mugure Thande prohibits the Ministries of Agriculture and Trade from importing any GMO foods until the Kenya Peasants League’s petition is heard and decided.
No government institution or official should provide GMO foods to the general population, according to Justice Thande, if the government has previously imported them and there is still a question about their safety.
The judge’s ruling came during a bitter argument between Trade CS Moses Kuria and several parliamentarians over his announcement that the government would buy GMO maize to help Kenyans who are suffering from hunger.
Many influential people, including opposition leader Raila Odinga, have spoken out against the government’s decision to relax the GMO food ban.
The second legal action contesting the GMO food decision was filed by the Kenya Peasants League.
Paul Mwangi, an attorney, filed a similar lawsuit to block the government from reintroducing genetically modified organisms, claiming that doing so poses serious health hazards.
According to the petitioners, there has never been any convincing scientific research on the safety of GMO foods, and permitting them in the nation will not only present serious health hazards but also threaten the traditional agricultural and eating customs of the nation.
Following a cabinet meeting to discuss boosting the nation’s food supply in the wake of the protracted drought, President William Ruto had declared on October 3 that the government has relaxed the prohibition on GMO goods.
The late former president Mwai Kibaki prohibited GMOs in Kenya in 2012 due to what the administration deemed to be a lack of adequate information on the effects of such foods on public health.
Mwangi claimed in his petition that the 2012 ban should remain in place until there is enough evidence to show that GMO foods do not represent a risk to the general public’s health.