President William Ruto’s chief economic advisor David Ndii on Wednesday explained that the school feeding program had been allocated zero budget in the 2024/25 financial year budget estimates because it was being handled by an autonomous entity domiciled within the Ministry of Education.
Responding to the uproar that Ruto’s administration was discontinuing the program, he explained that it had in the past been handled by the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK).
NACONEK was created with the aim of meeting the educational needs of the Nomadic regions through empowering school-going children in those areas.
As such, Ndii justified the zero budget allocation remarking that this was not one of the core mandates of the council.
Ndii remarked that NACONEK would continue empowering marginalised communities through other avenues.
He added that the council would also seek partnerships with organisations and counties which are not part of the nomadic landscape.
“NACONEK is a generous benefactor to other worthy causes, for example, it has recently gifted Nairobi School a Ksh100 million state-of-the-art kitchen,” he stated.
While NACONEK has exited from the school feeding scene, Ndii remarked that children from marginalised counties would still receive food from the government.
This will be funded through The Ministry of East African Community, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), and Regional Development headed by Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza.
“The ASAL ministry can confirm school feeding budget is intact,” he stated.
The zero budget allocation to the program had raised fears that this was an end to an initiative that was started in 1980 and benefits 2.6 million learners annually.
President William Ruto’s administration has been cutting budget from state departments as a part of austerity measures.
