Africa-Press – Kenya. Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti has launched a free milk program for Early Child Development Education learners in all public schools in the county.
Ndeti said the program dubbed ‘Maziwa ya Mama Project’ was of its kind and aimed to feed, energize and enhance children’s health as they pursue their journey of academic discovery.
She termed it as ‘feeding the future’.
“We make history as we launch this unique program, ‘Maziwa ya Mama, feeding the future’ project,” Ndeti said.
She spoke during the program’s launch at Kyamutheke Primary School in Mavoko, Machakos County on Thursday. The milk will be provided to the children twice a week, on Monday and Friday.
“Some of us remember the famous ‘maziwa ya nyayo’. I drank Nyayo milk and it was sweet. It didn’t only retain children in school, but also prevented malnutrition among children especially those from arid and semi-arid areas,” Ndeti said.
The county CEO said a majority of those who consumed former President Daniel Moi’s milk are currently leaders in various positions and sectors within the country and diaspora while the rest are taxpayers.
She said it was time to join hands and give back to the society.
“What better way to do that than to give our children the milk we enjoyed to sip for free? It’s free milk, not for sale,” Ndeti said.
Ndeti added:
“The free school milk program we are launching today for all public ECDE centres in Machakos county is expected to increase the enrolment, boost nutrition among our children as well as improve their health and general well–being.”
She warned teachers and other caregivers in ECDE centres against diverting the milk to serve selfish interests.
The governor said the milk should be properly stored to ensure that there is no contamination whatsoever to safeguard children’s lives.
“Besides health and nutrition benefits to our children, my government expects this program to boost the earnings of our dairy farmers who will supply the milk,” Ndeti said.
She said they had already agreed with those who supply them with the milk to purchase the commodity from cooperatives within Machakos County.
The milk supplied during the launch was processed and packed by a local manufacturer based in Narok County.
Ndeti said the opportunity for farmers was a step towards the realization of her ‘Chakula mezani, pesa mfukoni’ development agenda.
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