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A petition has been filed before the Senate seeking government support for a project aimed at ending deaths caused by snakebites.
Three petitioners from Machakos County—Patrick Musilu, Tom Babu, and Alfred Dosso—state in the petition that they plan to achieve this through the mass production and continent-wide distribution of safe, effective, and affordable antivenom, under the African Snakebite Alliance.
They argue that this would translate to sustainable thin profit margins, effectively ensuring the affordability of antivenom across the continent.
“Treating snakebites in Kenya will become exponentially cheaper once we achieve economies of scale by accessing the entire Sub-Saharan African market. We therefore pray that the Senate recommends support for the project,” reads the petition.
The petitioners are also calling for recommendations on the formulation of detailed guidelines—regulated by the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI)—to facilitate access to Research and Development services in publicly funded research institutions for indigenous African inventors.
They noted that incubation at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) is linked to funding from the National Research Fund to develop prototypes, and financing by the Kenya Industrial Estates. Consequently, they are seeking the operationalisation of an additive manufacturing facility.
This facility, they say, would be used for the packaging of Muthea Antivenom in new-age drug delivery devices, which they have spent the past five years developing to meet the required standards for effective treatment of snakebites.
The petition further calls for a preliminary inquiry, or the recommendation of a mandated law enforcement agency, to investigate alleged criminal abuse of office and sabotage by known employees of KEMRI, IPR, and NACOSTI, allegedly aimed at dispossessing them of their innovations.
“The offence of unlawful denial of services, indicative of abuse of office, is evident in the continued refusal to engage with us and the unwarranted hostility towards dialogue between us—citizen innovators—and our elected government,” the petitioners stated.
They claimed that after they declined to pay an illegal demand of Sh100,000—allegedly made without the knowledge of the Director of Culture—the cleanroom incubation space they required at KEMRI was subsequently denied.
In early 2022, they reported the matter—relating to abuse of office, denial of service, and suspected attempts to dispossess patent rights—to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
However, they said, the EACC erroneously referred the matter to the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ), which made an unsuccessful attempt to mediate the dispute.
“Mediation failed due to the Commission on Administrative Justice’s inability to verify the facts against the non-factual claims in the written testimony of the CEO of the Institute of Primate Research,” the petitioners said.
They further stated that all their efforts to engage with KEMRI and the Institute of Primate Research (IPR) regarding a mutually beneficial partnership to develop Muthea Antivenom have been met with hostility.
