Govt will not import GMO foods, Sambili assures Parliament

Written by  Daniel Saenyi

The government will not import Genetically Modified (GMO) foods until all measures to guarantee safety are put in place, Parliament was told Thursday.
Genetically modified maize has been a major issue in the country since the maize shortage issue came up early this year. As much as it promises to bring an end to the shortage in the country and create food security, genetically modified foods have elicited serious outcry on their safety and hence most Kenyans are against their importation, sale and usage in the country. Especially in the wake of lack the relevant information on what pertains to GMO’s.

In Parliament on Thursady, the Minister for East Africa Community Professor Hellen Sambili, on behalf of her counterpart for Agriculture, Dr. Sally Kosgei was the target on the floor of parliament as she was bombarded with questions asking her to justify the importation of the genetically modified maize. 

The MP for Rarieda Mr. Nicholas Gumbo wanted it made clear if Kenya was already importing GMOs and why is it that the maize price won’t come down unless the GMOs are brought in.

“Is it that Kenya is under some contract that it has to import the GMO’s, and does the Biosafety Act guarantee safety of the people, especially on the usage of GMO’s , where in the world has it ever been reported of the successful use of GMOs” asked Mr. Gumbo. 

Prof. Mrs. Sambili assured parliament that she won’t allow Kenya to be used as a guinea pig and therefore the safety of Kenyans was guaranteed, but enumerated several countries that have approved the usage of GMO’s, though not for human consumption. She mentioned Brazil, South Africa, USA and Egypt. 

This did not satisfy the MP for Cherenganyi Mr. Joshua Kitunyi as he raised his fears that GMOs could cause cancer especially prostate cancer. 

Kenya is known to be an agricultural country and if the government is importing GMO’s, how will it sustain this in the long run? Asked  the MP for Sabaot Hon. Eugene Wamalwa. Hon. John Mututho demanded to know if the country is importing  the GMOs, where is the clearing house that ensures they are inspected before distribution and which team is approving the same. 

“At the moment the country has a food crisis and pride won’t ensure the country stays an agricultural nation, so we have to import the maize at moment until the country stabilizes before we can take care of our agriculture sector in a long term strategy. As to the genetically modified maize causing cancer, there have been no reported health issues over the consumption of the product,” Said Prof. Mrs. Sambili

 The MP for Mathira Hon. Ephraim Maina asked whether the GMOs are already in the country as they are the story of the day everywhere while Hon. Wilbur Ochila, the MP for Emuhaya inquired whether  the genetically modified maize has been evaluated by the biosafety department before they are allowed in the country?,” 

Sambili clarified that no GMOS are in the country yet as no one had applied to import them in although failed to justify whether the GMOs have been inspected by the Biosafety department, an issue that raised the heat on the Minister.

The house speaker Mr Kenneth Marende, allowed Sambili more time to explain herself during the next parliament session on Thursday on the issue of the biosafety department and how it plans to handle the importation of the genetically modified maize.

The deplorable state of the Jua Kali sector in Bungoma County

Written by Daniel Saenyi

In a bid to better its services to the public, the Ministry of Labor is carrying out a survey to establish its shortcomings in the different districts and also see its accomplishments.

 The delegation led by the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labor Mr. Patrick Mwangi visited Bungoma County for the survey and the major let down seen in the ministry’s evaluation is the Jua Kali sector. The jua kali sector in Bungoma District has more or less stalled as they attributed this to lack of electricity and relevant infrastructure to see its growth.

 Land grabbing was also noted to be another reason for lack of growth of the sector as the District Commissioner Mr. Wilfred Nyagwanga pointed out that the District Hospital land and Airstrip land had been grabbed hindering the development of the airstrip business in the district.

Some of the delegates suggested that the Jua Kali artisans elect leaders regularly because the current leaders have had the posts for long and no development has been done in the sector. They urged them to vet the people they appoint so as to have a crop of leaders to catalyze development.

The town has a large population yet many youth grow up and live despondently due lack of a retirement plan. The NSSF Regional Manager Mrs. Rose Marienga pointed out that many youths get money, spend it in an extravagant fashion and end up suffering, so the NSSF is trying to transform itself to a pension scheme whereby the youth will get money in installments to avoid misuse as they save.

Even with this, very few individuals that have joined the security fund, their businesses are small i.e Bodaboda or fruit vendors, it was suggested that all small business owners will be encouraged to join unions to be able to serve them better as a group.

The labor ministry is not working effectively in the region because their movement is limited due to lack of transport vehicles and lack proper logistical frameworks.

On the visit to the local Jua Kali site, the shopping halls were desolate and abandoned, much to the surprise of the delegates, as they were expecting a noisy place, only a few jikos and half done bicycles lay on the verandah. Clearly they had been bought as the site seems to have never been functional for the past decade. 

Most Jua Kali artisans have opted to work on the streets as they easily access electricity and those working from the site had nothing but complaints to show for. They claim to have a big security problem as the sites chain link has been breached a thousand times, exposing them to a lot of theft of their products. 

According to Mr. Mwangi, work station management regulations have to be implemented within the small groups like Jua Kali to enable them function effectively. The management regulations are to facilitate leadership positions to be introduced in the sector and also be able to join unions as groups for their issues to be addressed. 

The different ministries in the county suffer a shortage of workers, a factor leading to the depreciating state of the small businesses in the County. Some ministries have about two officers in the county and they have to serve a big area of the county to the level on three districts for one officer. 

The labor ministry was urged to employ more officers to supplement the wide areas needed to be covered and each officer is supposed to be stationed in the county they serve as serving many counties leaves others incapacitated.