Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has explained why he could not hold his tears during the launch of the School Feeding Programme at Roysambu Primary School.
The Nairobi Governor said he wept when he remembered the struggles of children who go to school while hungry.
“The reason why I broke down, I was just remembering the resistance to this program. I have been going to schools and the kids would run to me and you could see how they are reacting to food,” he said on Wednesday, June 22 during an interview with Citizen TV.
Sakaja said some of these children do not concentrate in classschool due to lack of meals.
“When children are told to go for lunch some of them don’t come back to school. The next day even if they come to school and have nothing in their stomachs, they have nothing in their minds. That’s why we have committed money for the project,” he said.
Moreover, under the school feeding programme, children in public schools and ECDEs within Nairobi County will pay Ksh 5 to get free meals in the next financial year 2023-2024.
The Sh1.2 billion annual plan is part of Sakaja’s School Feeding Program dubbed Dishi na County.
Also Read: Activist Threatens to Sue Sakaja Over the School Feeding Programme
Nonetheless, the groundbreaking of the construction of central kitchens took place in 10 sub-counties on June 12.
The entire construction of central kitchens is expected to take about 10 weeks with the first meal to be served on the first day of the third term of this school year.
The sub-counties to benefit include Dagoretti North, Embakasi Central, Embakasi South, Kasarani, Kibra, Makadara, Starehe, Roysamu, Ruaraka, and Westlands.
The Nairobi Governor further stated that the project is part of a vision he had for years, to provide a daily nutritionally balanced hot meal for all children in public primary schools and public Early Childhood Development centers.
