By Zablon Oyugi, November 8, 2024, The High Court of Kenya has dismissed several petitions challenging the lifting of the ban on genetically modified organisms (GMO) food, affirming the ruling by the Environment and Land court last year.
In October 2023 Justice Oscar Angote of the Environment and Land court ruled that the country had had put in place robust biosafety regulatory framework, with inbuilt structures that must be met before the importation or cultivation of GMO crops.
It follows this ruling that Justice Lawrence Mugambi, during a sitting at Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, threw out the petitions that had been filed challenging the lifting of the ban on genetically modified food whose lifting had been a controversial development.
“In view of the above, the court hereby finds that the current petition is res judicata. The same is struck out the same with no orders as to costs,” Justice Mugambi said.
He ruled that no Kenyan would be predisposed to any health-associated risks from the cultivation and consumption of GMOs, thereby dismissing the Law Society of Kenya’s (LSK) case.
He further directed that since the matter had been fairly dealt with, it would therefore not transfer any costs to the petitioners.
In the ruling that the petitioners challenged at the High Court, Justice Angote found that LSK failed to prove that GMOs posed a health risk to consumers.
“With all these institutions in place—except for NEMA, which has yet to issue an Environmental Impact Assessment License—we can be confident that our health and environment are being safeguarded. It is implausible that all these bodies have conspired to expose the population to the risks suggested in the petition, at least based on the evidence provided,” Justice Angote stated.
He added that “the evidence shows that the country has established robust frameworks with stringent requirements that must be met before approving, transferring, handling, or using GMOs.”
In October 2022, the cabinet lifted a decade-long ban on biotechnology foods, sparking several court cases amid concerns that importing GMO foods could harm human health, animals, the environment, and biodiversity.
The executive order followed a Cabinet resolution to lift the ban, despite protests from some Kenyans who argued that the move could have serious consequences for their lives.
Today’s ruling is expected to reignite the debate over GMO safety, a contentious issue where both citizens and experts hold diverse and often opposing views on the decision.
