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"id": 201679,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Githae",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Transport",
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"legal_name": "Robinson Njeru Githae",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to make my contribution to The Biosafety Bill. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me begin by saying that this Bill could not have come at a better time. It should have come yesterday. I am saying this because, at the moment, we have no authority that monitors or even regulates various GMOs that may be brought into this country. So, at the moment, we do not know what is in this country, who brought it and what it was for. So, I think the first thing that the Authority should do is to take stock of what is existing in this country so that, at least, they have a base upon which they can begin their work. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the contribution I am going to make are my personal views. Whereas the introduction of the Authority is a good thing, I am not very sure whether the GMOs are good for human health and environment. Why am I saying this? Whereas we agree that there are some benefits to be obtained from GMOs, at the same time, we must realise the dangers that they can bring. We have benefited from the research, for example, on Katumani maize, which has been very successful. Katumani maize can grow in areas where there is not much rainfall. So, to that extent, the research on Katumani maize, which is a GMO, was beneficial. But there are others which may not be beneficial and that is where the danger is. So, we must be careful. As this Authority proceeds to work on its mandate, it must be very careful that it does not license every application. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other reason I said that this Bill could not have come at a better time is because we have been late also as far as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is concerned. Other countries have ICT policies or Acts of Parliament which regulate the ICT in those countries. For example, Rwanda is very much ahead of Kenya. It is only now that we are having an ICT policy and freed our airwaves. It is also only now that we are October 3, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4329 having mobile phones, FM stations and the like. So, to that extent, it is good that we are now following the modern trend. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me now move to details of the Bill. I will begin with Clause 6(1) which gives the list of all the members of the Board. It says one member shall represent the interest of consumers. I think we need more than one representative because the people who were to be affected are the consumers. Then, it also says that there should be one member to represent the interests of farmers. I think we need to add that one member shall also represent the interests of livestock and another one to represent the interests of fishermen. These are important stakeholders who seem to have been left out. So, I request the Minister to include those other categories so that the Board is well-representative. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding Section 17, it says that the provisions of Section 16 shall not relieve the Authority of the liability to pay compensation on damages to a person. But I am seeing a case where it is not one person who may be affected but rather a class of persons. I am not very sure whether a class of persons could sue for any damages. So, we need a provision that authorises a class of persons to sue and not necessarily an individual. We have cases where, particularly, in the pharmaceutical industry, a drug has not affected a particular person but a class of particular people. So, we need to put a clause that says that even class actions can also be instituted against the Authority. Regarding Section 19(4) on circulation, it says:- \"The Authority shall publish in a Gazette and in at least two newspapers with nationwide circulation---\" I am particularly concerned with the word \"nationwide circulation\". What is a newspaper with nationwide circulation? The Government's bureaucrats have interpreted this to mean only the"
}