Kananu Celebrates 1st Birthday Since Taking Office

Africa-Press – Kenya. Acting Governor of Nairobi County Ann Kananu Mwenda celebrated her first birthday in office since taking the role in January 2021.

Kananu, who is considered media-shy, held a low-key birthday celebration where she shared the day with children from Hidden Talent Academy in Ngando ward Dagoretti South.

Photos seen by Kenyans.co.ke show the acting governor, who turned 41 years old, cutting the cake and having fun with the children.

Kananu donated foodstuff to the children’s home and assured them of her full support in ensuring that they get quality education.

She also asked the County Executive Committee member in charge of Education to ensure that needy children get quality education and frequent encouragement.

Hidden Talent Academy is a registered community-based organization that provides free non-formal primary and secondary education to children affected by social-economic difficulties.

Education is key in poverty eradication and economic growth but children who come from vulnerable backgrounds often find themselves in unable to access quality education.

According to a report by the World Bank, non-school factors such as education of parents, child-rearing practices, nutrition, health care and pre-school education have more effect on children’s access to education.

Kananu’s passion for education and supporting vulnerable people in society has seen her launch various programs to this end.

In March, she announced the recruitment of over 500 early childhood development and education teachers for schools across the county.

In April, she launched a feeding program targeting over 127,500 vulnerable households across Nairobi’s informal settlements.

“Due to the high number of positive cases we have in Nairobi, our county has been placed under lockdown exposing vulnerable families to serious food insecurity challenges. The combinations of all the above factors have contributed to a lot of hardship to the vulnerable population of our county,” she said.

The program is aimed at cushioning them against the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.