Civil Society organization, Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) has rejected claims that it apologized to Parliament when it took the House on over the Plant Breeders Bill.
According to the Communications Director of FSG Edwin Kweku Andoh Baffour, no such thing occurred.
Mr. Baffour made the comment on the back of a claim by the Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Joe Osei-Owusu on Tuesday.
Mr. Osei-Owusu, after questioning the Agric Minister nominee, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto over a petition from the group at the latter’s ministerial vetting, revealed that the civil society organization failed to prove that the Plant Breeders Bill would promote GMO products in Ghana and subsequently apologized.
But the Communications Director of FSG told Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday that “…thiswas the first time I had heard of this, I don’t recall any need for an apology from Food Sovereignty so I was quite surprised when I heard the chairman of the committee stating that Food Sovereignty Ghana had apologized for something.”
“I’m not sure what exactly we had to apologize for,” he added.
Background
The Plant Breeders Bill which was brought to Parliament for approval triggered a massive debate in the country in 2014 with some groups tagging it as a way of legalizing genetically modified foods in the country.
Various stakeholders and individuals including Food Sovereignty Ghana kicked against it insisting that it will undermine and damage the traditional farming practices.
They also argued that approving the bill will cause an unnecessary threat to public health, water resources, air and the natural environment.
We’re not against Plant Breeders Bill
Food Sovereignty Ghana also stated that it is not against the Plant Breeders Bill but clarified that it is against some clauses in it.
“We are not against hybrid, we are not against science but we are against the genetic manipulation of organisms –when we take genes from one organism and artificially incorporate them into the gene of another. We have never said the Plant Breeders Bill is about GMO. What we have said is that the Plant Breeders Bill is going to open the way for multinational seed companies to monopolize our seeds. We are not against the Plant Breeders Bill, we are against the Plant Breeders Bill in its current form and we have clearly stated where we have a problem,” Mr. Baffour noted.
Court orders Agric Ministry to halt production of GM products
An Accra Fast Track High Court in 2015 ordered the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to halt all the production and sale of Genetically Modified products in the country.
Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) dragged the Ministry to court seeking an injunction to prevent the Ministry from commercializing the sale of Genetically Modified (GM) foods in the country.
They claim the Ministry does not have the authority to commercialize such products.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin