Nairobi — The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has called for the publication of a 2014 task force report on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in line with the principles on access to information and transparency.
The Rights Commission emphasized that, due to lingering safety concerns surrounding GMOs, making the report public is crucial to helping consumers make informed choices.
Speaking Wednesday during the release of its annual report on the State of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Kenya, KNCHR Chairperson Roseline Odede said that there are still unanswered questions raised with respect to the impact on seed and State sovereignty.
"Whereas some see the value of GMOs in addressing food security challenges, others have questioned the effect of GMOs on health and consumer rights, environmental pollution, interference with the local organic and natural breeds of plants and animals," she said.
She highlighted Article 46 of the Constitution, which guarantees consumers the right to goods and services of reasonable quality, along with the information necessary for them to fully benefit from these goods and services including protection of their health, safety, and economic interests.
Odede called on the Ministry of Health to collaborate with the National Biosafety Authority in conducting a comprehensive public awareness campaign on Genetically Modified products, enabling the public to make informed decisions.
GMO green light
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The appeal comes more than a month after the Environment Court dismissed a petition challenging the importation and cultivation of GMOs.
In its ruling on October 12, the court stated that there was no evidence to show that the government breached the laws and regulations on GMO foods.
The court further asked Kenyans to trust institutions they cannot put regulations that can harm its people.
"As a country we need to trust the institutions that we have in place and call them to order in the event they breach the law," noted the judge.
Similarly, the court ruled that the government undertook public participation.
While dismissing the argument that there was no public participation, Justice Oscar Angote ruled that the Kenyan gazette is used to inform the public and serves the purpose of public participation.
"With all these institutions we should be confident that our health and environment is in good hands, it can't be true they can all conspire to expose the population to the calamities," the court noted.
It was the court's decision that the complainants did not provided any evidence to show that the respondents and institutions have breached the laws and regulations on GMO foods.
In particular, it noted the lack of proof regarding approvals for the release to the environment, cultivation, importation, and exportation of maize.
