Martha Karua speaks on why imported GMO maize should worry Kenyans

NARC-Kenya party leader Martha Karua has weighed in on the shipping of genetically modified maize that docked at the port of Mombasa before the gazettement authorising the importation of the genetically modified products.

Karua said she smelt a rat from the rush by the government to allow for the importation of the product even before it was gazetted.

According to Karua, importing maize when local farmers were harvesting their produce was unnecessary, adding that the rules of importation were defied when ordering tonnes of the staple product.

Karua hit at President William Ruto, saying he was associated with a maize scandal in the past and allowing for the importation of the product is a sign of a looming scandal.

Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua during the Zinduka Festival ece-auto-gen

READ: Raila's terse statement demanding apology from Moses Kuria, stand on GMO maize

“Maize. Source of daily meal for a majority of Kenyans. To wheeler dealers, a get-rich-quick medium often imported needlessly at the expense of the local farmer. In the grand coalition government as agriculture minister William Ruto was associated with the maize scandal. We are now set for season two of the Maize scandal,” Karua said.

Karua went on to say that lifting the ban on GMO products is illegitimate as there was no legitimate cabinet to approve the decision when it was made terming it as a roadside declaration.

“Once a president is inaugurated after elections the reign of the outgoing ends and the outgoing cabinet is dissolved by operation of law. The purported cabinet meetings with Uhuru’s cabinet after the inauguration a nullity.

“Decision on GMO is no more than a roadside declaration and therefore illegitimate,” Karua noted.

Trade CS Moses Kuria Pulse Live Kenya

READ: Details of GMO maize docking at Mombasa Port

On Tuesday, November 22, a ship containing 10,000 tonnes of genetically modified maize docked at the Port of Mombasa days before the government gazetted the importation of the product.

Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria however called for calm saying that the imported maize was meant to supplement local produce in battling food insecurity in the country.

Kuria added that the importation will be done by private millers and not the government as had been said by other quarters.