Legislators from maize-producing counties of the Rift Valley want Trade CS Moses Kuria out of government over his decision to allow duty-free importation of GMO maize into the country at a time farmers in their regions were getting ready for a bumper harvest, enough to feed the country.
“He will be the first Cabinet Secretary to leave office. We will impeach him. We will collect signatures from Wednesday if he doesn’t change,” Pokot South MP David Pkosing said.
Speaking on Tuesday at Parliament buildings, the MPs, led by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei demanded an explanation from CS Kuria on why he was allowing the importation of the GMO maize despite resistance from members of the public, failure of which they will begin the process of his impeachment.
”As MPs from maize-producing regions, we seek to know the reason as to why ships are already docking in Mombasa Port without the laid out legal procedures. It has never happened before that maize is being imported into the country at a time our farmers are harvesting,” Senator Cherargei said.
”It seems, there is a deliberate move to continue killing maize farming in this country, just like it was in the previous regime,” he added.
A ship carrying 10,000 tonnes of imported maize is docking at the port of Mombasa today, just days after the government said it will open the duty-free window for the produce.
The consignment is getting to the country even before an official gazette notice is released to legally allow imports. Manifest from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) shows the consignment is onboard an African Merlin vessel.
Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria who made the announcement last week, yesterday said the gazette notice will be out this week.
