• "Ruto should just legalize Marijuana and promote Hemp as a commercial product trust me all our problems will evaporate,” Ledama said.
• The second term Senator has been advocating for the legalisation of marijuana in Kenya, citing the plant’s economic and health benefits.
Image: COURTESY
Narok Senator Ledama Olekina has called upon President William Ruto to legalise marijuana.
In a statement, the senator claimed that having hemp as one of Kenya's commercial product will 'evaporate' the country's problems instead of focusing on Genetically Modified crops (GMO).
He insisted that the effects of GMO are harsh.
“Instead of talking about GMO which we all know it’s advance effects (transfer of antibiotic resistance, toxicity and allergenicity), Ruto should just legalize Marijuana and promote Hemp as a commercial product trust me all our problems will evaporate,” Ledama said.
On Monday while chairing a cabinet meeting, Ruto announced the lifting of the 2012 moratorium that restricted importation or open cultivation of GMO crops.
Kenyan farmers will now be able to plant genetically engineered crops and animal feeds. This is expected to increase food and animal feed production in the country.
However, Genetically modified crops have generally raised concerns about potentially harmful effects on smallholder farms, existing crops, the environment and people’s long-term health.
In his opinion, Olekina said that is better the country legalises bhang instead of lifting the GMO ban.
The second term Senator has been advocating for the legalisation of marijuana in Kenya, citing the plant’s economic and health benefits.
In 2020, in a video shared on twitter, the legislator seen standing inside a marijuana plantation in Lithuania, Europe wondered why the plant is still illegal in Kenya, saying the law is part of the ‘old ways’.
In 2018, the late Kibra MP Ken Okoth tabled the Marijuana Control Bill 2018 in the National Assembly. The bill sought to decriminalise the use of marijuana and draw up regulations for growth and use of the herb.
A year earlier, two Kenyan researchers, Gwada Ogot and Simon Mwaura blazed the trail in petitioning Parliament to legalise cannabis.
Raila Junior had also championed for the legalisation of medicinal marijuana saying, “There’s need to legalize medical marijuana, as it is something that can help Kenya, especially sick people who will need marijuana in their treatment.”