On Thursday, May 25, President William Ruto was unsuccessful in his bid to have the Court of Appeal grant his government permission to bring in GMO maize.
The Court of Appeal determined in its 21-page decision that the complaint had no validity, despite the Office of the Attorney General’s defense of the State.
The court argued that because the issue involved important public interest, it was improper for the government to take such actions without taking the issues brought into account.
“Applicant must establish the first two aspects, that is, the arguability test and the nugatory aspect.
“See in Law Society of Kenya v Bloggers Association of Kenya & 6 Others (2020) eKLR. In the end, we find no merit in the application as the applicants did not satisfy us on all three limbs,” read part of the ruling.
Kenya To Import 10 million Bags Of GMO maize
Attorney General Justin Muturi filed a petition with the Court of Appeal on December 23, 2022, asking for an order lifting the prohibition on the importation and sale of genetically modified crops.
The High Court issued the prohibition in March 2023 in response to a petition filed by a consortium of civil society organizations.
The administration made the case that the restriction is unconstitutional and will harm food security. The administration also claimed that the assertions that GMOs are detrimental are unsupported by science and that the prohibition is based on out-of-date information.
Justices Warsame Mohamed, Ali Arone, and John Muting’a Mativo acknowledged in their decision that the High Court had yet to rule on a case that was similar to the one that was before it.
