Nairobi County inks Ksh.1.7 billion school feeding deal with national gov’t

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu have signed a Ksh.1.7 billion deal towards the rollout of a feeding program for all public primary schools in Kenya's capital.

The Intergovernmental Partnership Agreement (IPA) between the county government and the national government was signed Monday and will see funds for the program drawn from both the Consolidated Fund and the County Revenue Fund on a 50-50 basis. 

Per the IPA, the National government will through the Education ministry handle capacity building for Nairobi County on management, administration and implementation of the programme.

This includes budgeting, monitoring and evaluating the implementation, guiding school heads, as well as construction and operations of kitchens in schools.

The Nairobi County government will meanwhile be responsible for the day-to-day running of the program.

“This Agreement shall take effect from the date of execution by the parties and shall remain in force for an initial period of three years,” reads the IPA, adding that there is a possibility of extension for another three-year period.

Speaking during the event at the Ministry of Education headquarters in Nairobi, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u said the feeding program will have a ripple effect on the economy, increase education attainment for improved human capital and improve smart agriculture in the supply chain.

Governor Sakaja unveiled the feeding programme dubbed 'Dishi na County' last month with a view to feeding about 250,000 children in public primary schools and Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres.

So far, the construction of kitchens has kicked off in Roysambu, Starehe, Makadara, Kasarani, Embakasi South, Dagoretti North, Kibra and Westlands constituencies.