Rt. Hon.(Eng) Raila Amolo Odinga

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 491 to 500 of 1732.

• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Mungatana has also asked whether we can say categorically that GMO foods are safe. There are certain qualifications and that is why I have tabled this report from the WHO. But I want hon. Mungatana to know that there are countries where GMO foods are sold in the market. Among them are Argentina, Canada, South Africa, United States and some European Union (EU) countries. The only requirement is that you must label it as GMO food, so that the customer knows what he or she is buying. There is an option of GMO and organic food. ... view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Ngugi might not have been in the House when I made the original statement and said that a decision had been taken to allow for importation of GMO maize on certain conditions. The House needs to know that it passed the Biosafety Bill and is now an Act of Parliament, which states clearly conditions under which GMO food can be imported into the country. We have already set up a Biodiversity Council which is charged with the responsibility of carrying out the testing of this food before it is allowed into the market for consumption. view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Mututho, of course, made several allegations. I have not had time to interrogate all the documents that he has produced. This is supposed to be a report which has been prepared. It says:- “Please, note that these reports are a product of my interrogations of the KEPHIS officers and extraction of relevant information from the files. I was not the KEPHIS Managing Director during the period under investigation.” view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is not actually a certificate from Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS). This is basically a report by somebody else. It also says:- “As directed, this is the report of the maize consignment which came into the country in 2009 in two vessels, namely, C.M. Opal, docking on 20th May, 2009 and Aquila Companion on 14th June, 2009.” view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are talking about 2011 when the Government formerly allowed for importation. That is when I said that since that time, no GMO maize has come into the country. There has never been any authority. If somebody did import any GMO food into the country, it was illegal because no authority had been given. That might inform this investigation that took place. Hon. Mututho was being very economic with facts. This does not contradict the Statement that I have made here; that since the Cabinet decision, no GMO food has been imported into the country. I challenge ... view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Mututho has mentioned certain brand names and what effects they have on human beings. I want to invite him to listen also to other authorities other than his own. The Americans cannot be so negligent as to allow the American people to consume GMO food if it is harmful. Let us not be too conservative because science is moving on. Conservatism is not going to help this country. Alarming statements which are calculated to instill fear into the--- view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish the hon. Member was more consistent and organized in his questions. He has talked about two things here. He is talking about maize that was imported into the country supposedly in 2009 as non-GMO, but when tested, was found to have been GMO. This is what he is talking about, and this is the report that he has tabled here. So, he is not in any way contradicting the Statement that I have made. However, since we formally allowed the importation of maize into the country with effect from last month, no importer has gone ... view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was talking about the World Food Organization (WHO). The question was: What kind of GM foods are in the market internationally? All GM crops available in the international market today have been designed using one of the three basic traits; resistance to intake damage; resistance to viral infections and tolerance towards certain herbicides. All the genes used to modify crops are derived from macro-organisms. With regard to maize, the trait is insect resistance. The areas or countries with approvals include Argentina, Canada, South Africa, United States of America and some other EU countries. The other one ... view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, yes, I can give an undertaking on that. If the hon. Member gives me the details, I will forward them to the authorities concerned immediately, so that the consignment is impounded and tested to verify the wild allegations that the hon. Member is making. view
• 3 Aug 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member for Lari talked about contradictory statements by the Government. I do not know what contradictions he is talking about. I said that, that was a collective decision by the Government. What I have stated now is the Government’s position on the issue of GMO. So, the hon. Member can ignore any other statements that have been issued by anybody else. view