Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, has denied allegations that his Dishi na County has failed to supply food to schools as planned.
In a statement via X, formerly Twitter, Sakaja asserted that a few individuals were opposing the feeding programme for ulterior motives.
“Resorting to propaganda won’t work. Using children for politics won’t work. The first phase of schools onboard has been receiving their hot meals daily and on time. All headteachers have been communicated with to continue their arrangements until the county signals the start of the next phase. Already, 80,000 children are enjoying meals at 5 bob during the phased implementation,” Sakaja said.
The headteacher of Tumaini Primary School, Millicent Kefa, posted a video on the same platform explaining that the school had not received food supplies, and children had been asked to bring their own meals.
This sparked diverse reactions on the platform, with Kenyans criticizing the Governor and branding the program a failure.
“Someone posted a video from Tumaini Primary, no child or teacher in the video, just classrooms behind them. Sadly, opportunistic premature 2027 aspirants are so determined to see this program fail that they are even considering harming our children. Currently meeting at Asmara Restaurant in Kileleshwa. Let me tell them; Watoi Wadishi, Washibe, Wasome, Wanone. Lazima iWork,” Sakaja concluded in his tweet.
Sakaja’s reactions came after a online spat between himself and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino on Sunday, over the Nairobi County school feeding program.
According to Babu, the feeding program, dubbed ‘Dishi na County,’ which was launched by Sakaja in August, has not been beneficial to Nairobi children.
“Each school should have a well-equipped kitchen and staff. Sakaja’s 10 kitchens cannot feed hundreds of thousands of learners in Nairobi. The ratio of kitchens to kids is ridiculous. But again, someone who ran away from school and is using fake degree certificates cannot understand these simple facts,” the MP wrote in a tweet.
The MP argued that the program, designed to provide daily meals to public primary school and Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) pupils at a nominal fee of Sh5 per day, should have been managed by schools and not the county.