87 Kenyans seek redress as tests reveal toxic pesticides in bodies
Crime and Justice
By
Kamau Muthoni
| Mar 17, 2026
Kenyans could be facing a pesticide poisoning pandemic owing to exposure to harmful chemicals.
This sorry state of affairs is revealed in a court application by 87 Kenyans to join a class case filed by African Centre for Corrective and Preventive Action and Kelvin Kubai against the government and pesticide companies operating in the country.
Environment and Land Court Judge Grace Kemei, in September 2025, directed the lobby group to advertise for any person who had been affected by the use of glyphosate, paraquat, imidacloprid, clothianidin, fipronil, chlorphyrifos, thiacloprid, thiamethoxam, fenitrothion, malathion and dinotefuran to join the case.
It is now emerging that 87 individuals showed up following the advertisement.
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They now want the court to allow them to join the case, following tests allegedly done showing that they were either directly or indirectly affected by use of the agrochemicals, especially paraquat and glyphosate.
“As detailed in the supporting affidavit of Prof Zakayo Thaimuta, they have non-hogekins lymphoma, skin problems and secondary effects to their environment, including soil, water and their overall ecosystem disruption,” the application, filed in February this year, reads in part.
The lobby sued Agrochemicals Association of Kenya, Monsanto Kenya Limited, Bayer East Africa, Basf East Africa, Twiga Chemicals Industries Limited, Pest Control Products Board, Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, Ministry of Health, Kenya Consumers Protection Advisory Committee and the Attorney General.
Kubai says those who came out include farmers, consumers, farm workers, sprayers and agro-vet shop attendants.
In his supporting affidavit, Prof Thumaita claimed that he, alongside George Maina, prepared screening tools for the tests. He said that paraquat is the most commonly used herbicide in Kenya.
According to him, toxicity occurs mainly via a mechanism involving the production of large amounts of toxic free radicals.
“These toxic free radicals cause lipid peroxidation in the cell membrane, exhaust nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), and lead to cell death,” Kubai said, adding that poisoning manifests through lung damage.
Kubai further claimed that urine is the best way of testing the herbicides’ presence in human body. According to him, tests results showing darker than navy blue in the initial 24 hours of test meant there is a high probability the person will die.
On the other hand, Kubai claimed that those tested had a history of pesticide use.
He urged the court to direct that each of the persons be medically monitored to ensure that they do not die. According to him, none of them has the capacity to manage the ailments.
The first person, codenamed AC, is 55 years old. She was allegedly tested on February 3, 2026 and her urine showed that she had high levels of paraquat and glyphosate.
The second person, codenamed JAM, 48, is claimed to have 131 times the reference limit. The third one, allegedly had 14 times reference limit of paraquat, and 16 times of the limit for glyphosate exposure.
The tests results, which are part of the application to allow the 87 to join the case as petitioners, create a grim picture of the herbicides and pesticides use in the country.
But the global agrochemicals giants and the ministry argue that the 11 chemicals listed in the case are harmless, and cannot affect users health r the environment.
They asserted that the case has no merit and ought to be dismissed.