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{
    "id": 1184204,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1184204/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 239,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ugenya, MDG",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Ochieng’",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2955,
        "legal_name": "David Ouma Ochieng'",
        "slug": "david-ouma-ochieng"
    },
    "content": "We have passed laws here on biosafety. I am certain that institutions that we have set up can advise us based on whether GMO is right or wrong. My region; western Kenya, does very well in cotton. We stopped growing cotton long time ago and indigenous cotton seed is not doing well. I would be persuaded with the right evidence that if we get the GMO cotton, it could do well in western Kenya, and then we would be advised to adopt Bt Cotton. In that case, I would be supporting any GMO product that is non-food. We could use that technology on GMO to produce more on cash crops. The idea that we will dismiss GMO just like that is not right. There are areas like food products where GMO may have problems. We have been told that if GMO maize is planted in western Kenya, it could wipe out our indigenous seed and will make us dependent on it. In that regard, therefore, GMO would be bad. It will depend on where we are speaking from. I want to persuade the Members here that where science is concerned, let us be guided by it. Let us not be emotional and throw out the baby with the bath water. We know that GMOs have had disadvantages elsewhere. For example, we do not have products that are labelled GMOs. Even today, our supermarkets have GMOs. There are oranges, avocados and fruits in our supermarkets that have no seed at all. Today, we import chicken from South Africa, Europe and who knows whether they are GMO or not. No one is labelling anything. We also have bodies that are failing. The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and the biosafety organisations need to advise us. We cannot be dealing with very uncertain situations like this such that we do not know what we are feeding on. It is important that we also put the bodies that we have set up by law to task, to advise us on some of these things. We also know that GMO encourages food intolerance. It may come with allergies and pertinent issues. Today, someone in Ugenya can go to his farm, pick a maize cob, keep it in the roof and plant it next season. With GMO, he will not do that. Our people must know both the advantages and disadvantages before we are asked to embrace them. As I say that, last week, we were told that now the world has 8 billion people. It rases issues of food security. If we can develop a method where we can make food cheaply, we can produce food in huge numbers, and be in a good state. I want to advise all us that in this debate on GMOs and non-GMOs, let us allow science to guide us. As to whether we should import maize tomorrow, I am against it totally until we finish our stock of maize in the country before we start talking about maize from elsewhere. Otherwise, we are looking at a scandal in the next few months with the Public Accounts Committee asking where money came from and questions have been asked about this. Let there be transparency if we are to import any maize."
}