The Nairobi City County Government ‘Dishi Na County’ school feeding program has received a major boost after the Nairobi Young Parents Teachers Association (NYPTA), expressed their support for the initiative that is already feeding school going children in various public Primary Schools and Early Childhood Development Education centers within Nairobi.
In a statement on their advocacy plan for the school feeding program, the Nairobi Young Parents Teachers Association, a group which consists of single parents, widows and widower parents, as well as young teachers raising primary school-going children in Nairobi expressed their support for the program terming those opposing it enemies of progress who are only using politics to derail the good intentions of the program.
The NYPTA officially declared their group as the Nairobi School Feeding Program Advocacy Group. The Nairobi City County Government ‘Dishi Na County’ School Feeding Program which was introduced by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja as a bill in the Senate while serving as the Nairobi Senator was finally rolled out on 28th August, 2023 and aims at providing a meal a day to all school-going children in Nairobi.
The ‘Dishi Na County’ school feeding initiative is currently benefiting more than 88,000 children who have been getting lunch time meals from the opening date of the schools third term with the program designed to feed over 250,000 children after the completion of construction of more kitchens to supplement the existing 10 kitchens.
The NYPTA group condemned the actions of several leaders led by Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and former Nairobi Education CEC Muthoni Ouko, who have openly opposed the program and declared that they will henceforth plan public peaceful processions and press conferences to support the program and expose the lies and misinformation surrounding this program.
“We strongly condemn the actions of Embakasi East Legislator Babu Owino, Muthoni Ouko, and some few other Nairobi County leaders who are opposing and sabotaging this noble initiative through court cases, sponsoring fake news reports, negative publicity, and propaganda that is aimed at derailing this program,” the group members said in a statement read by the group’s chairman.
“As young parents, we realize that we are living in a very difficult economic time and this program is very beneficial to our children. Those opposing and sabotaging the initiative must know that we are the parents who feel the pinch when our children go without food because most of us are single mothers who hustle to bring them up,” they added.
The group said that the aim of their advocacy for the program is to have it gain recognition as it is well intentioned and has gone ahead, in just over a month, to receive praise from many quarters even at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
The NYPTA single parents, widows and widowers, parents, and young teachers who are the generation raising primary school-going children have made an application and have been been enjoined in the ongoing court proceedings in a case filed by Tunza Mtoto Coalition and Muthoni Ouko who argued that the program at a cost Ksh.1.2 billion is a national function and should therefore be halted at the county government.