The High Court has dismissed a case challenging the Nairobi County Government’s “Dishi Na County” school feeding program.
The program, which aims to provide meals to over 200,000 children in public primary schools, was launched in partnership with Food4Education, a non-profit organization.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Mwita, stated that halting the program would not be in the best interest of the children and that it was initiated for their welfare.
“It was for the welfare of the children that the program was initiated. We can’t halt it. We will be running away from the issues affecting the children,” Mwita said.
The case was filed by Tunza Mtoto Coalition Kenya, which argued that the program was illegal since education is a national government function.
The petitioner also argued that the program lacked the necessary public participation and suggested that the funds could have been better utilized for building classrooms.
However, the county government maintained that all legal procedures were followed before the project’s official launch.
Nairobi Health and Nutrition CEC Susan Silantoi praised the ruling, highlighting its significance for Nairobi’s children, many of whom have been neglected for a long time. She noted that one in four children previously missed school due to hunger.
“The Governor, Johnson Sakaja, prioritized food in schools after discovering that hunger was causing children to miss school,” Silantoi confirmed.
She reported that since the program’s inception, over 17 million meals have been served, benefiting more than 200,000 pupils who receive hot, nutritious meals daily at a cost of KSh5 each.
The program aims to provide a nutritious meal to each child daily, helping to improve their academic performance and overall well-being.
The county government plans to expand the scope of the program to complete all public primary schools by September 2024.
The plan, Silantoi says, is to bring the total to 17 kitchens serving over 307,000 children. This will cover the entire scope of children in Nairobi’s public ECDE and Primary schools that have access to the meals. The program will also be extended to children in informal primary schools at a later stage of implementation.
