Parliamentary teams must be more credible

Scientific credentials notwithstanding, the parliamentary committee on agriculture chairman and Naivasha MP John Mututho is not shy about reaching conclusions more sober minds wouldn’t.

First, it was a determination Kenya Bureau of Statistics and the Government Chemist were wrong about a consignment of maize contaminated with aluminium phosphide being unsuitable for human consumption.

Now, it is a conclusion that genetically modified maize imported from the United States for the strategic reserves will cause impotence if consumed.

In the first case, Mr Mututho and others were relying on tests carried out by Intertek, a private firm invited to test the maize by PM Raila Odinga when the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate, a Ministry of Agriculture agency, diff-ered with the Government Chemist. Oddly, the reports were that the maize had no aflatoxin. Didn’t the parliamentary team and others deem it necessary to address the question of aluminium phosphide before raising doubts?

Impotence Myth

Talk of GM maize causing impotence in mice and, therefore, being a threat to men reflects the same cavalier disregard for rigorous inquiry. The impotence myth has been around for years. It arises from premature and inaccurate conclusions made by anti-GM campaigners about a study that did not apply to humans.

Its inclusion in a report on the maize crisis raises doubts about the rigour of the team’s investigation. How seriously, then, can we take ‘evidence’ of billions lost?