Ten years after they were genetically modified products were outlawed, President William Ruto’s decision to reintroduce them has continued to draw criticism from a variety of sources.
In light of the rise in cancer cases, some experts expressed alarm about the effects of growing GMO food.
The National Coordinator of Biosafety and Biodiversity Association, Anne Maina, highlighted that the reintroduction is disturbing in light of the health issues associated with GMO consumption in other nations.
“There have been very many concerns in the US, there are over 30,000 cases where people that produce these products have been sued because people have developed cancer,” she said.
“When these GMO crops are grown, you use a lot of chemicals and pesticides some of which are toxic and have very many challenges in terms of our health. As we open the doors for these companies, are we going to on one hand open the doors for GMOs and on the other hand increase our health costs?” she stated.
Prof. Richard Oduor, a biotechnology specialist, has a different opinion about the return of GMOs. The researcher claims that despite the prohibition being in place, incidences of cancer have been reported in the last 10 years.
“This is sad. For the last ten years, there has been a ban in this country meaning there has been no importation, consumption or anything to do with GMO- have we had cases of cancer?” he stated.
A decision to lift the restriction was decided on Monday by the president and members of the outgoing cabinet which had been in effect since 2012. The choice was made as one of the policies the new administration decided to deal with the ongoing drought in some areas of the nation.
