Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has hit the headlines after making yet another controversial statement.
Alluding that life in Kenya is not easy, CS Moses Kuria says that living in Kenya is similar to becoming a candidate for death.
“Being in this country you are a candidate for death,” he said. Kuria then went on to state that for this reason, he was allowing the importation of GMO maize.
“Because there are many things competing for death, there is nothing wrong with adding GMO to that list. That is why we are deliberately allowing GMO into this country,” said Kuria.
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His statement follows a declaration by the opposition political side, Azimio, that it will oppose the distribution and consumption of GMO maize, which the government has allowed as a means to combating the on-going food crisis.
The government will allow duty-free importation of 10 million bags of GMO maize over the next six months.
“We have taken deliberate decisions to improve the current dire food situation in the country. We have decided to allow the importation of GMO maize into the country until the food situation improves,” said Kuria.
Kenya has been battling a biting food shortage amid long droughts over the past two years which have heavily affected the production of maize.
Maize production declined by 12.8 per cent from 42.1 million bags in 2020 to 36.7 million bags in 2021 after a prolonged drought hit the agriculturally productive regions for extended period of last year.
