By Henry Neondo

Contributing to the debate in Parliament when debate on the Bill resumed
after interruption on November 29, Dr Kilemi Mwiria, an Assistant Minister
for Higher education, Science and Technology said the Boisafety Bill
provides safety to safeguard Kenyans against the very fears that lots of
Kenyans are currently expressing through various forum with regard to issues
of biotechnology and hence the Bill is protect against unintended use of
genetically modified Organisms, GMOs.

He said Kenya is not an island and added that since GMOs exist and the fact
that borders are porous, the law would provide safeguards.

He said biotechnology is meant to assist to do more using less resources
given that Kenya?s productive arable land is merely a third of the land
mass.

He said the difference between the industrialized countries and the
developing ones is the technological gap.

Countries that are more advanced in technology also happen to be advanced
economically and in all other sectors.

So until Kenya bridges this gap by taking advantage of technology, it is
always going to lag behind the countries that were the first to take
advantage of technology.

According to William Ruto, minister for agriculture, Kenya is lagging behind
in putting a legal framework in place to facilitate faster and coordinated
research activities, especially in the various arms of agriculture and
GMO-related fields.

Uganda and Tanzania, said Ruto have already enacted the Biosafety Bill, a
crucial requirement of the Cartegena Protocol. Ruto said the benefits
arising from the enactment of this Bill are enormous.

It gives this country the opportunity in a comprehensive and coordinated
manner to benefit from research.

He said the passing of the Bill would be testimony of confidence law makers
have on local expertise ranging from university and research institutions
who were involved in its development.

Ruto warned that Kenya being the entry port for a number of countries whose
laws do not prohibit use and importation of GMOs is already exposed and
desparately needs the Biosafety Law that would provide necessary instruments
to ensure that there is passage or use of GMOs in the country.

Opposing the Bill in the Parliamentary debate, Silas Ruteere pointed out in
countries where GMO technology is used, such crops are solely used for
animal feeds and not for human consumption.

Those Kenyans MPs in support of the Biosafety Bill point out to the fact the
country is still begging and imports food to feed her 5 million people who
are food insecure whne technologies exist that could boost crop yield per
hactares.

But those MPs opposed say Kenya and indeed Africa is food insecure not for
lack of GMOs but for lack of proper planning adding that low irrigation,
lack of water harvesting coupled with poor infrastructure and effects of
climate change is hampering coutnries in the region from ensuring food
security of her citizens.
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