Farm workers in Timau, a horticultural town in central Kenya, say pesticides made them seriously ill. The Guardian reports that 87 of them want to join a court petition against the Kenyan government and agrochemical companies over the sale of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs). The court is expected to decide early next year whether to admit them.
One of them is Reuben Muriki, 30, a former pesticide sprayer on a flower farm. Several years ago he fainted at home, and his health has worsened since. His joints swelled, his skin became discoloured and he struggled to breathe. Doctors treated him for suspected tuberculosis, but the treatment did not help. Today he cannot walk on his own, speaks incoherently and quickly forgets things. His mother, Margaret Mwanjaro, cares for him around the clock and blames the pesticides he sprayed.
The nonprofit African Centre for Corrective and Preventive Action and lawyer Kelvin Kubai filed the petition in 2022. It accuses Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, BASF and Nairobi-based Twiga Chemical Industries of selling pesticides with lethal active ingredients in Kenya. Last November, the court let the petitioners invite people allegedly harmed by 11 pesticide ingredients to join. That would turn the case into a class action. Kubai, who comes from Timau, said the government and the companies had neglected these people. He said Kenyan farmers deserve the same protection as farmers in the US and Europe.
Scientists hired by the petitioners tested all 87 applicants for paraquat and glyphosate. Kubai said every one of them had levels of both chemicals above permissible limits. Muriki's urine sample showed nearly 200 times the reference limit for paraquat and 48 times the limit for glyphosate. Pathologist Prof Zakayo Thaimuta said the team found no other cause for Muriki's condition. He said all 87 had at least three major medical conditions. The most common were Parkinson's disease, throat inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis.
Mwanjaro also worked on a horticultural farm, weeding and picking flowers in greenhouses until 2017. She said she started work early in the morning without protective equipment, only hours after the sprayers had finished. She quit after developing blisters and growing weaker. She still has inflamed skin, worn nails and a constant cough.
Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2016, said its products are safe for people and the environment when used according to label instructions. A Syngenta spokesperson said all its products sold in Kenya meet the country's regulatory standards. The Pest Control Products Board, Kenya's regulator, declined to comment because the matter is in court. BASF and Twiga Chemical Industries did not respond to the Guardian's questions.
Two UN agencies, the FAO and the WHO, say HHPs pose especially high risks to health or the environment. In April, a Greenpeace report found that 48 of the 141 active pesticide ingredients registered in Kenya last year were classified as HHPs. Some of the chemicals used in Kenya are banned in the EU.