The Parliamentary Committee on National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) expressed their opposition to the government’s plan to scrap the school feeding programme.
The Committee Chairman, Eldama Ravine MP, Musa Cherutich Sirma, said the programme was a vital part of education, since it ensures low dropout rates and higher transition in lower classes. He spoke after touring Mvita Constituency in Mombasa while looking into proposals to have internet access and innovation hubs. He was accompanied by committee members.
Sirma said that the programme is a source of nutrition to children in marginalised areas. “We are opposed to the plan to do away with the feeding programme. Some children go to school because of the programme,” he said.
He added that the school feeding initiative was not part of NG-CDF functions as it was not provided for in law.
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“We have no provision for the feeding programme in the NG-CDF Act unless the law is amended to accommodate it,” said Sirma. He mentioned that even though the NG-CDF could fund the programme, that is not its mandate.
“Doing away with the feeding programme will be detrimental to the children because they are already used to it. It is also a motivating factor in education in the marginalized areas,” he said.
During the tour, Mohamed Machele, Mvita MP, said that Information and Communication Technology hubs have been opened in the constituency. The hubs are a result of the announcement made by Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, Eliud Owalo, about the construction of 1450 ICT hubs in all wards in the country.
He announced it during the commemoration of ICT Authority’s 10th-anniversary event in Nairobi on December 12 last year. The CS emphasized on the need to develop the grassroots ICT sector which he said is vital in setting a stronger foundation of ICT-related development and the digital economy.
By Frank Mugwe
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