Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson said the ‘Dishi na District Programme’ has served 30 million meals to 310,000 students in 230 primary schools in the district since its inception 14 months ago.

Speaking at a stakeholders and media roundtable forum in Nairobi, Sakaja said the province, in partnership with the national government, was preparing to invest Sh1 billion to expand educational facilities to accommodate the growing number of students in public schools.

The governor announced that the district currently has 17 central kitchens, one in each district, and looks forward to expanding the program in non-governmental schools as well.

He thanked President William Ruto for supporting the construction of more classrooms following the 34 per cent increase in enrollment following the introduction of the Dishi na District Programme.

“We are committed to ensuring that we can accommodate more students in our government schools following increased enrollments due to the Dishi na District Program launched 14 months ago, plans are already underway to build more classrooms to meet the growing demand,” Sakaja said.

To provide quality meals to students, as some come from disadvantaged backgrounds, Dishi na District kitchens produced 1,000 meals each, covering hundreds of primary schools in the city, the governor told the forum.

Sakaja said the program makes students feel loved and valued, bearing in mind that some people who can’t afford lunch are embarrassed because their colleagues carry their lunches to school or have money to eat at nearby canteens.

Governor announced Copying central model Kitchen When it attended an international conference held in other parts of Africa and in Paris, France, participants from various countries were eager to learn about the program.

“When I showed President William Ruto the Roysambu Kitchen, which he laid the foundation stone for when it was completed, he was delighted to see the state-of-the-art kitchen that produces cheap, quality meals for parents to pay just five shillings per plate for their children every day.” said Sakaja.

He stated that the Dishi na District program has created employment for 2,000 people and most of the students look forward to going to school to enjoy quality food.
Sakaja emphasized the importance of proper governance structures and accountability to manage the initiative effectively.

“I will not tolerate misuse of funds for the noble cause of feeding our children. I thank my team for their dedication and hard work in ensuring this success. My administration focuses on education support and child welfare, which has been one of the main agendas of my life manifesto,” he said.

He said students in public schools wear yellow wristbands equipped with digital technology containing their ID, which allows the district to track who pays Sh5 for meals, and parents load cash directly into the wristbands through mobile money services, which allow students to access meals by tapping. bracelet at school.

The governor announced that the district covered the expenses of approximately 10 percent of the students who could not pay and that they covered the total cost of all meals.

Nairobi County Executive Committee Member for Health and Nutrition Suzanne Silantoi told the forum that 14 months after the program was launched, the county had become a leader in the universal school feeding program and other cities in Africa were trying to copy it.

Wawira Njiru, founder of Food for Education, said the nutrition program enables: children deprived of social rights Students can access education without worrying about hunger, which causes difficulties that affect their school performance.

Dishi na District Manager Esther Mogusu emphasized the importance of the programme, noting its impact in feeding over 310,000 children, citing other initiatives attempted earlier such as Maziwa ya Nyayo launched by the late President Daniel arap Moi.

“We take great pride in feeding school children in public schools in the city; late President Moi provided milk through the Maziwa ya Nyayo program during his tenure, while Governor Sakaja facilitated the service of hot nutritious meals,” Mogusu said.