Tens of county workers took to the streets in Nairobi's Central Business District on Wednesday, March 5, in protest over unpaid dues.
Staff members of the famous Dishi na County program launched by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja took to the streets dressed in official uniform to express their discontent with the county government.
In videos obtained by Kenyans.co.ke, tens of Dishi na County workers armed with placards marched in the streets demanding their salaries, which one of the workers claims has been delayed by a month.
The irate workers who were chanting Sakaja's name maintained their peace during the protests but insisted they were determined to march to City Hall to address their grievances with the Nairobi county government.
Launched on June 19, 2023, Dishi na County is a school feeding program meant to mitigate the issue of food shortage in schools to enhance student health and improve academic performance.
The programme mainly centred around the construction of centralized kitchens in each of Nairobi's 17 sub-counties where meals would be prepared and distributed in schools, effectively ensuring students receive balanced meals daily.
While students were meant to part ways with KSh5 in the tap-to-eat system, Sakaja's government was meant to cater to the students who were unable to afford the meals.
The food-for-education program was largely successful, with at least 310,000 pupils from 230 primary schools enjoying its benefits by August 2024, a year after it officially rolled out.
This was the second day running whereby the CBD witnessed protests after hundreds of workers under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme took to the streets with similar grievances as the Dishi na County staff.
The UHC workers also demanded permanent and pensionable employment as they accused the government of favouring their employed colleagues.
Further, they argued that they were yet to receive their five-year gratuity, which the government was obliged to pay at the end of their contracted term.
The workers also faulted the Ministry of Health over what they termed as consistent snubbing of their concerns.
Elsewhere, the Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS) announced that it will urge its members to go on strike nationwide on Monday, March 18, if the government does not resolve the ongoing dispute regarding the medical cover linked to the Public Officers Medical Fund (POMF).
