Kenyan Deputy President: Ban on GMOs to be Lifted Soon

The Kenyan government will lift the ban on GMOs in two months, according to Deputy President H.E William Ruto. The DP confirmed this during his official opening of the 4^th Annual Biosafety Conference organized by the Kenya National Biosafety Authority (NBA) in Nairobi. ‘‘Mark my words in a matter of month or two we should be able to be out of the ban, I want to allay any fear from any quarter that there will be any attempt to roll back what has already been achieved and to give our undertaking to the scientific community in Kenya that you have support by the government of Kenya in facilitating the work you are doing,'' the Deputy President said.

H.E Ruto further says that people are not sure what GMOs are hence the temptation to ban GMOs without any scientific evidence based facts to support their argument, explaining that science is the solution to agricultural problems. He pointed out the dwindling cotton sector, climate change, pests and diseases attack on staple crops like maize, are few areas where biotechnology can offer solution.

Prof. Jacob Kaimenyi, Cabinet secretary, Ministry for Education, Science, and Technology, said Kenya has opted to embrace GMOs adding that the NBA conference aimed at creating biosafety awareness as well as educating the public on issues of biosafety and the role of NBA in assuring safe use of biotechnology. The minister observed that education plays a critical role towards creating scientific and knowledge savvy society.

For more information, contact Dr. Margaret Karembu of ISAAA AfriCenter at mkarembu@isaaa.org.