The French government has promised to pump Ksh157 million into Nairobi County to subsidize Governor Johnson Sakaja’s ongoing school meals program.
The pledge was made by French Minister of State for Development, and International Partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, when she accompanied Governor Sakaja to the Olympic Primary School in Kibra Constituency.
In a statement, the governor thanked the French Government for their goodwill, noting that the cash will supplement the Ksh1.7 billion Nairobi County has already earmarked for the project.
“The French Government has committed to support us in this program to the tune of €1 Million which adds to the 1.7b shillings we have provided as Nairobi County Govt and will help us continue subsidizing meals for the Children and scaling up,” the county chief said.
Governor Sakaja who visited the Olympic Primary School earlier today to track the progress of the school meals program was accompanied by the French Minister and EU Ambassador to Kenya Henriette Geiger.
The county boss was also accompanied by French Ambassador to Kenya Arnaud Suquet, and Kibra Member of Parliament Peter Orero.
The school feeding program, dubbed Dishi na County, was launched by Governor Sakaja in June 2023 and seeks to deliver meals for 25,0000 pupils across various public schools in Nairobi County.
Nairobi County has set aside Ksh1.7 billion for the project, with Ksh500 million allocated to build seven more kitchens and the rest to subsidize the cost of a plate for each child.
During the launch, Governor Sakaja announced the construction of 10 kitchens to be used in the project, promising that the kitchens would be ready by the end of August.
According to a report posted on the Nairobi County website, parents will only be parting with Ksh5 per day to pay for their children's meals.
Besides feeding the school children, the project is also geared at increasing enrollment in Primary schools and ECDs.
“The school feeding program will cushion parents, keep children in schools, increase enrollment, and transition to higher learning institutions in public primary schools and ECDs across 17 sub-counties in Nairobi,” reads the report.
