Busia County schools are set to benefit from Ksh10 million worth of sanitary pads in a bid to boost education and girls’ retention at school.
The woman representative Hon. Catherine Omanyo will be responsible for the distribution process.
This follows the implementation of the law signed by Kenya’s Fourth President Uhuru Kenyatta in June 2017, mandating the national government to provide free sanitary pads to boost girls’ access to education across the country.
The new law stated that the government would be responsible for providing, “free, sufficient, and quality sanitary towels” and “a safe and environmentally sound” method of disposal for girls in school.
Addressing the press at St Augustine Kamolo Secondary School in Teso North Sub County today (Friday) after offering motivational talk and distribution of sanitary pads to 246 girls, Hon Omanyo aka Kipepeo said the pads which will not be in cash form will see women reps from all the 47 counties handle distribution of these pads.
Hon Omanyo revealed that Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Aisha Jumwa confirmed that funds for the program have already been allocated in the budget, adding that the procurement process is ongoing and later distribution of the products.
“Before the program is officially launched, I thought outside the box to set aside some funds to purchase sanitary pads for some selected schools which Girls will use for three months before we replenish,” she said.
Omanyo said the sanitary pads program targets mostly day schools since most parents are vulnerable, thus their inability to take children to boarding schools.
She also revealed that 35 girls are on full scholarships, adding that they have so far dispatched bursaries to the tune of Ksh4.4m.
Other schools the woman rep visited to distribute sanitary pads to girls and offer motivational talks included Opedur, Kwangamor, and Busibwabo Primary schools, adding that the exercise will continue next week.
Delivering her motivational talk, Hon Omanyo challenged 241 boys of the school to protect their female counterparts as sisters and by controlling their evil thoughts which might ruin their future careers.
“Girls, don’t be lured by lifts of motorbikes. I am standing here as a living testimony. I nearly got married at the age of 14; I had no home, but the Catholic Church through Bishop Sulumeti came to my rescue,” she said.
In East Africa, four out of five girls miss school because of their periods, according to ZanaAfrica, a partner of Global Citizen and a non-profit organization that provides health education and sanitary pads to girls in Kenya.
Globally, an estimated 1 million girls miss up to 20% of the school year because they lack access to the tools to manage menstrual cycles.
Two million girls will need to receive menstrual hygiene support in Kenya for the government to meet its new promise, according to the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
On the ongoing rampant thefts of laptops in learning institutions, with the latest being Akulonyi primary school in Malaba South Ward, the Woman rep attributed it to poverty.
“Joblessness has taken its toll in the country forcing unemployed youths to resort to using shortcuts to earn their living,” she said, adding that insecurity occasioned by the lack of real fence in learning institutions, especially day schools has also contributed to the current scenarios.
Hon. Omanyo emerged as the best woman rep according to a recent survey. She attributed this magnificent performance to accessing villages where people don’t go.
“I am a pathfinder. I don’t do things for the sake of public relations; I reach out to people in all corners of the county whether it’s accessible or not,” she said.
The school board of management chairman Reverend Brother Francis Okae congratulated Omanyo for being voted the best woman rep in the country urging Busia County residents to support the MP in her pursuit of offering better services.
“We are proud of that magnificent feat by our able woman rep. I am your secret admirer in the county. I urge county residents to learn to sit with elected leaders and support them to achieve the tasks ahead of them.
The School Principal Patrick Okubala thanked Hon Omanyo for accepting to sponsor five girls who agreed to return to school after dropping out due to pregnancy.
The principal also thanked the woman rep for the Ksh50, 000 contributions to help meet part of the 1.5 acres piece of land purchased for the school playing field and for accepting to donate funds for the staff welfare self-help groups to enable them to purchase at least two dairy animals.
The school has 18 teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission and BOM and a student population of 487. Mr. Okubala said the challenges facing the girls are pregnancies, early marriages, and absenteeism occasioned by involvement in activities at the border town of Malaba.
By Gilbert Ochieng
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