Kenyan President Ruto defends lifting GM crop ban, says the country needs to follow international science consensus on their safety and benefits

Credit: Science Africa
Credit: Science Africa

President William Ruto has defended his move to import genetically modified organism (GMO) foods.

To back up his case, Ruto disclosed that all the foods that the country has all along been importing has GMO components but which he stated was within the one per cent required by the Kenya bureau of standards (KEBS).

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“I cannot put at risk the lives of the people who elected me…I am a scientist, all the scientists in the country are in agreement that GMO has no effects,” he said.

The president said those opposed to the importation of the product are individuals who are out to distract him from his course to address the food insecurity in the country.

“This is a propaganda peddled by individuals who do not want to see us solve this problem,” he added.

He said the whole of South Africa, and the USA were 100 per cent using GMO products yet there are no proven effects on the lives of its people.

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