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Weekly Review: GMO Debate Rages On in Kenya. Azimio Defends 4 embattled IEBC Commissioners. Senegal Beats Qatar in FIFA World Cup Recap
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Maurice O. Ndole Contributed to this Report.
Ruto takes a trip to South Korea
President William Ruto took a trip to South Korea, for bilateral talks. The East African news report indicates Ruto secured a $1 billion funding to help in setting up Konza, Kenya’s smart city project near Nairobi.
“Held talks with South Korea President Yoon Suk-Yeol in Seoul as Kenya and South Korea signed a bilateral agreement at Yongsan Presidential Office, Seoul, South Korea,” Ruto tweeted.
The South Korean trip marks at least the 7th trip abroad Ruto has taken since his inauguration on September 13.
Azimio’s statement about the 4 IEBC Commissioners
Parliamentary hearing of the petition to remove from office the four IEBC commissioners who dissented with the presidential election results began Thursday. Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leaders Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, and Martha Karua attended the hearing.
Azimio MPs backed the lawyers of commissioners– Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya, Francis Wanderi, and Irene Masit; and wanted the petitions struck out.
The petitions to remove the four from office were filed in Parliament by the Liberal Party, Republican Party, Rev Dennis Ndwiga Nthumbi, Geoffrey Lang’at, and Steve Jerry Owuor.
The commissioners’ lawyers: Donald Kipkorir, Danston Omari, Jotham Arwa, and Apollo Mboya, objected to the petitions, saying the parliamentary committee had no jurisdictional authority to preside over the matter.
There is due process and natural justice, things aren't just done at the whims of the executive.
The rule of law must prevail and not your jungle laws that you want to institute so as to subjugate Kenyans to a conveyor belt system of elections come 2027.
We shall not relent. https://t.co/wraA8Ocbul
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) November 25, 2022
Later in the day, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leaders issued a statement, asking President Ruto to stop the process of kicking out the four, lest the process will not end well.
Below is the statement Raila Odinga read to the press.
“We will not sit back and watch a return of the Moi regime by another name. By summoning these Commissioners, Parliament is usurping the role of a tribunal. They’re trying to prejudice whatever tribunal could be formed. Parliament’s role must be limited to summoning the petitioners and deciding whether the issues warrant the setting up of a tribunal.
“In any case, the conduct of the Commission was part of the election petition, and none of the Commissioners was found to have committed any offense. Only Chebukati was found to have acted unilaterally.
“This probe is, therefore, politically motivated. It is a continuation of a witch hunt mission that Ruto is on. It will turn into a nasty partisan fight at a time when we need to unify the country and tackle our problems.
“In fact, we advise the Commissioners to boycott it in the interest of constitutionalism and the rule of law. This country wants to move on. UDA must allow it to move on. With all the problems Kenyans are going through, a focus on punishing commissioners who did not agree with the chairman is trivial, vindictive, and vile. It must stop. It will not end well.”
Friday morning, Ruto hit back at Azimio by tweeting a statement asking Azimio to let the rule of law take its course.
“The lords of impunity, who destroyed oversight institutions using the handshake fraud, should allow Parliament to hold rogue officials who put the nation in danger by subverting the democratic will of the people to be held to account. [The] new order is RULE of LAW, not wishes of big men,” Ruto tweeted.
Odinga hit back at Ruto with a tweet.
“There is due process and natural justice. Things aren’t just done at the whims of the executive. The rule of law must prevail and not your jungle laws that you want to institute so as to subjugate Kenyans to a conveyor belt system of elections come 2027. We shall not relent,” Odinga said.
Some have seen the move to remove the commissioners as part of Ruto’s revenge mission toward those who supported Azimio. They have accused Ruto of reneging on his promise not to seek revenge.
GMO debate rages on in Kenya.
Cabinet Secretary for Trade Investment and Industry Moses Kuria Thursday last week made a statement about GMOs that kicked off a heated debate on the motive of the government to allow the importation of genetically modified organisms, including food.
While addressing traders and investors last week, Kuria said:
“We have so many things that can kill us in the country. Being in this country, you are a candidate for death. And because so many things compete for death, there is nothing wrong with adding GMOs to that list. That is why we have deliberately allowed GMO until we are satisfied that we have enough maize, the staple food.”
He added: “In view of the food situation in the country, I shall be signing instruments to allow duty-free imports of GMO and non-GMO maize for the next six months.”
The statement kicked off a storm with Kenyans online and calling out the CS for taking jokes too far and not taking Kenyans’ lives seriously.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, in a statement, asked the CS to apologize to Kenyans for his utterances. Odinga also called out Ruto’s administration for lifting the GMO ban and asked Parliament to rescind the decision.
“We in Azimio La Umoja want to state categorically that this decision – which has been made without deliberation or public participation – will have far-reaching and catastrophic implications for Kenya’s agriculture, the health of the Kenyan people, and our environment.
“We consider the decision to lift the ban on GMO foods and their importation a betrayal to our country. On this, the Ruto administration is not working for Kenya. He is being a puppet, working for foreign nations and their multinationals against our interest as a nation.
The Azimio statement asserted the need to involve the public in deciding whether to allow GMO foods in the country and said no scientific study or evidence clears GM foods as fit for human consumption.
GMO research Worldwide
Research about GMOs has been ongoing for decades, even in Kenya. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) tracks the usage of GMO foods worldwide and has issued reports since 2000.
One project cited in the ISAAA targeted genetically modifying Eucalyptus trees in Kenya to fight deforestation. The study kicked off in 1997, three years before former President Daniel Arap Moi signed the Cartagena Protocol on May 15, 2000, allowing GMOs in Kenya for the first time.
The project, published in 2002, was conducted by Kenyans Samuel Wakhusama and Benson Kanyi in collaboration with the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), the Forest Department of Kenya’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and Mondi Forests, a division of Mondi Ltd, a private company from South Africa.
Mondi’s website describes itself as a global leader in packaging and paper.
Wakhusama and Kanyi’s project appears to have yielded the desired results.
The report noted Mondi took a leading role in the project because of their biotechnology experience.
“A vigorous and drought-tolerant hybrid eucalyptus has been introduced from Mondi and is performing well in seven field trial sites in different areas of Kenya,” the report noted. “Clones provided by Mondi have been multiplied through tissue culture and used to establish a central clonal nursery at Karura, near Nairobi. The nursery is currently producing 500,000 seedlings annually, with plans to expand production to 3 million a year by the end of 2005.”
While the government has not instituted an official public debate, there are ongoing discussions around the country.
The Kenyatta University GMO Debate
On November 21, a panel of experts affiliated with Kenyatta University dispelled the notion that GMOs were harmful. Anne Maina, the National Coordinator for the Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya (BIBA), kicked off the debate by coming out against GMOs.
Maina questioned the reasons to justify the production of GMO foods, such as food security or higher-yielding crops, poverty eradication, efficient use of water and drought-resistant crops, and nutritious foods, among other reasons.
As a leader for BIBA, which describes itself as:
An association/network of farmer organizations, animal welfare networks, consumer networks; faith-based organizations, Local non-governmental organizations; and community-based groups…”
It’s unclear whether Maina has the scientific background to determine GMO safety.
Maina’s argument received strong pushback from the scientists in the panel.
In a humorous presentation, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at Kenyatta University, Prof. Richard Oduor, countered Maina’s claims and asserted GMOs were safe. Oduor said Kenya has globally recognized scientists who have worked extensively in the field, and the conclusion drawn by GMO opponents did not have a scientific basis.
He gave an analogy that using GM technology in plants is similar to vaccination in humans.
“If we give birth to kids and take kids for immunization, is it because we usually think that God never completed the work? Why do we take our kids for immunization? “Prof. Oduor posed. “And if we’re able and comfortable with injecting ourselves with vaccines for purposes of protecting ourselves against polio, [and] measles, why do we think we can’t protect maize against insects?”
“We must get to a point where we become receptive to these kinds of technology,” Oduor said.
While the debate rages on in Kenya, the world is receptive to GMOs.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), GMOs currently available in the market are considered safe.
“All genetically modified foods currently available on the international market have passed safety assessments, and no effects on human health have been shown as a result of consuming GM foods,” WHO website.
GM foods are widely available in the US and heavily regulated.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ensure that GMOs are safe for human, plant, and animal health, the FDA website reports.
The FDA also provides a time of events leading to GMO technology advancements over the years, tracing back to 8000 BCE, when humans improved their agricultural and food production techniques.
Noteworthy on the list was 1982, when FDA approved the first consumer GMO product developed through genetic engineering: human insulin to treat diabetes.
GMO debate is mixed with politics
Kenyans appear to be widely opposed to GMOs, but the positions held are easily predictable depending on political leanings. President Ruto’s supporters are likely tolerant, but Odinga’s supporters are opposed.
Ironically the two leaders appear to have shifted their positions from 10 years ago. Dueling videos have gone viral on social media showing Odinga making a case in support of GMOs, while a younger Ruto is also on video opposing GMOs.
But for now, it appears the country is on Odinga’s side.
“In the present circumstances, we call upon our two houses of Parliament to stand up for the people. Parliament must push for motions to comprehensively and fully debate what the country should do with GMOs.
Odinga criticized CS Kuria for his reckless utterances.
“We note with alarm the callousness with which the UDA regime, in the person of CS Moses Kuria, announced the pending importation of GMO maize. We call upon Mr. Kuria and the UDA regime to apologize to the Kenyan people,” Odinga’s statement read.
Through the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Church also weighed in on the matter and condemned Kuria over his controversial comments.
“We feel that it was distasteful and disrespectful to Kenyans to joke about life and death. And even if it is an issue to be taken as a joke, it will be wrong to bring about statements whereby we trivialize death, suffering, and insecurity,” Nyeri Catholic Archbishop Anthony Muheria said in a press conference.
“We feel, irrespective of the matter in consideration, we would request that Kenyans deserve respect and not spite, and in this matter, they deserve an apology,” he added.
Nigeria launched redesigned banknotes.
On Wednesday, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, unveiled the new N1,000, N500, and N200 Naira notes.
President Buhari said the notes had enhanced security features that would beat forgery as they would be hard to counterfeit. The new notes, designed in Nigeria, will be circulated starting mid-December.
Nigeria’s election body insists it will use BVAS tech in the general election.
With less than 100 days to the 2023 election, Nigeria’s Independent National Election Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has said the Commission is focused on delivering free, credible, and fair elections, and there is no going back on the BVAS technology.
The development comes after Abdulahi Adamu, the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC)– the ruling party, early this week raised questions over the suitability, reliability, and effectiveness of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the Results Viewing Portal (IReV).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) proposed the two platforms for deployment in the 2023 elections.
Professor Yakubu said Wednesday that there is no going back on technology deployment.
“As I have said repeatedly, the Commission’s allegiance is to Nigeria. Our loyalty is to Nigerians who want free, fair, credible, and verifiable elections supported by technology, which guarantees transparent accreditation and upload of polling unit results for citizens to view in real-time on Election Day. It is for these reasons that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) were introduced. There is no going back on the deployment of BVAS and IReV for the 2023 General Election,” Yakubu said in a statement.
INEC said it would continue with its regular engagement with political parties, civil society organizations, the media, and other critical stakeholders so that Nigerians can know about the progress of the Commission’s preparations for the General Election.
FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup Recap; Senegal becomes the first African Country to win, Eliminating Host Qatar from the tournament
Senegal scores a third! ????????
An instant response by the Lions of Teranga ???? pic.twitter.com/CgjBUOPRUo
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2022
The Lions of Teranga, however, roared back Friday, beating Qatar 3-1 and making the host team the first to be eliminated from the tournament.
Senegal, who dearly missed superstar Sadio Mané, went down 2-nil in their opener game against the Netherlands. Mané picked up an injury while playing for Bayern Munich a fortnight before the World Cup. The injury ruled him out of the tournament.
Senegal will now face Ecuador on Tuesday Nov. 29, in a match that would determine whether they move to the next round or the tournament.
All the five African teams participating in this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar started with a bad leg-winless. Only Tunisia and Morocco gained points after playing to a draw with Denmark and Croatia, respectively.
Cameroon put up a spirited fight against Switzerland. Still, a shot by Breel Embolo, a Cameroon-born striker who plays for Switzerland, in the 48th minute shattered the hopes of the Indomitable Lions.
The Black Stars of Ghana gave Portugal a run for their money and energy Thursday night when they came from behind to score two goals. Nonetheless, Portugal won the game 3-2.
Portugal’s first goal via a penalty kick converted Portuguese soccer demigod Cristiano Ronaldo remains controversial, with many arguing the penalty was justified and was awarded erroneously. There was no Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to check the authenticity of the awarded penalty.
The second goal also raised controversy after Africans, and other fans online said João Félix was offside when he scored Portugal’s second goal.
Osman Bukari and André Ayew scored the Black Stars’ goals in the 73rd and 89th minutes.
Tunisia is yet to play with Australia and France in Group D.
At the same time, Morocco has yet to battle for points with Belgium and Canada in group F.
Cameroon will still play Serbia and Brazil in group G. Senegal now awaits to duke it out with Ecuador to qualify for the next round.
The Ghana Black Stars is yet to play with South Korea and Uruguay in Group H.
The group-stage matches have been exhilarating and heartbreaking, depending on one’s allegiance. Big titans like Lionel Messi’s Argentina were beaten 2-1 by Saudi Arabia, while Japan also shocked the world by beating star-studded Germany 2-1.
Brazil’s Samba Boys announced their arrival on the world’s biggest football stage with an authoritative 2-0 win over Serbia. The two goals were scored by Richarlison, whose flying kick captured the world’s attention and booked a page on FIFA’s book of the goals of the tournament.
England recorded the biggest win in week one of the World Cup, with a decisive 6-2 win over Iran.
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