NGO sues over harmful herbicides used in Kenyan farms
The petitioners also want the court to compel the respondents to immediately stop the sale and distribution of the chemicals in Kenya.
The government has been sued for licensing and allowing the manufacture and sale of weed and pest control products containing chemicals that are harmful to human health.
According to a petition filed by African Centre for Corrective and Preventive Action (ACCPA) and Mr Kelvin Mugambi Kubai, scientific research and findings have grouped glyphosate as a carcinogenic substance yet the Kenyan government permits its continued use.
Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide used to kill weeds and grasses known to compete with commercial crops grown around the globe.
“The respondents are under the constitutional duty to protect consumer rights of the many small and large-scale farmers who use glyphosate containing products that are sold across outlets and agro-vets within Kenya,” said ACCPA director James Mwangi in an affidavit supporting the petition.
The state was sued alongside the Pest Control Products Board, Ministry of Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Authority and Council of
Governors for putting the lives of Kenyans at risk by exposing them to cancer-causing chemicals used in pest and weed control on the farms.
The complainants want the court to order the withdrawal of glyphosate, paraquat, pmidacloprid, clothianidin fipronil, chlorpyrifos, thiacloprid, thiamethoxam, fenitrothion, and dinotefuran for violating the environmental and health rights of consumers.
The petitioners say the government allowed the use of the chemicals across commercial and small-scale farms to control weeds and other crop infections without taking the necessary measures and precautions to protect farmers.
“The chemicals are dangerous to human health and bees, unfit and unsuitable to be marketed and sold in commerce, and lack proper warnings and directions as to the dangers associated with their use,” they say in court documents.
The petitioners accuse the Pest Control Products Board of failing to scrutinise and verify the design, packaging and labelling of the products containing herbicides in accordance with the relevant regulations.
They say 70 products containing glyphosate are licensed by the board for sale and use across Kenya to control annual and perennial grasses and broad-leaved weeds in maize in the zero/minimum tillage system.
The petitioners add that there are nine products containing paraquat, licensed for sale and use on coffee, tea, banana, citrus mango, cereals, sugarcane, cotton, row crops, and maize
Another 79 products containing imidacloprid are also in use to control aphids, thrips and whiteflies in French beans.
The petitioners allege that another seven products containing fenitrothion are in use to control various grain storage pests, including larger grain borer, maize weevil, red flour beetle on maize, beans, sorghum, wheat, barley, rice and groundnuts.
The petitioners hinge their case on a review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group, which concluded that glyphosate in herbicides is a Class 2A “probable carcinogen” as demonstrated by the mechanistic evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in animals.
The IARC is a specialised intergovernmental cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations that conducts and coordinates research into the causes of cancer.
The group published the conclusions on March 24, 2015 after its cumulative review of human, animal, and DNA studies that took more than one year.
Documents filed by the petitioners indicate that the IARC also found that glyphosate caused DNA and chromosomal damage in human cells.
Based on this, the petitioners argued that the chemicals are harmful to human health as some, such as fenitrothion, have been found to be toxic to reproductive systems and alter the hormonal system in humans.
The petitioners want the court to rule that the respondents violated the rights of Kenyans rights to a clean and healthy environment by failing to protect them from disease-causing agents.
“The petitioners pray that this court be pleased to issue a declaration that [the] Pest Control Products Board publish and update a list of all chemical products banned within other jurisdictions to enable Kenyan consumers and farmers form well informed decisions,” Mr Mugambi said.
They also want the court to declare that the aggrieved persons have a right to compensation for loss or injury arising from the use of the chemicals.
The petitioners also want the court to compel the respondents to immediately stop the sale and distribution of the chemicals in Kenya.
