LEGAL UPDATE: COURT DISMISSES THE ENVIRONMENTAL PETITION CHALLENGING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE LIFTING THE 10-YEAR BAN ON OPEN CULTIVATION AND IMPORTATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GMO) MAIZE.

Written By :
G&A Advocates LLP

We successfully led the Honourable Attorney General in Environment & Land Petition No. 2 Law Society of Kenya versus the Hon. Attorney General & 3 others wherein we demonstrated and the Court agreed, that there is a robust institutional and legal framework regulating importation and cultivation of GM crops in Kenya, to ensure that they do not pose harm to the environment. The Court noted that there is sufficient evidence to show that the country has put in place robust frameworks with inbuilt structures which must be met before various Agencies can consider and determine applications for approval of transfer, handling and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Moreover, the Court observed that the Petitioner’s allegation concerning lack of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment before approval of Bt Maize was premature because open cultivation of Bt maize was yet to commence and that in any event, the same could only happen after approval by National Environmental Management Authority.

The Court cautioned the public to always trust institutions that have been put in place and call them to order if they breach the law. To this end the Court noted the National Biosafety Authority is mandated to collaborate with other government agencies including the National Environmental Management Authority, the Department of Public Health, Kenya Bureau of Standards, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation in order to ensure that approved GM crops are safe for our human health and the environment. It cannot be true therefore that all these government agencies have conspired to expose the rest of the population to calamities in the Petition.

Follow this link to access the Judgment:

Team | Our Managing Partner, Mr Eric Gumbo, led a team of advocates comprising of Ms Arriella Saina, Mr Alex Mbaya and Mr Elias Odhiambo, in successfully defending the Attorney General in this Petition.