President William Ruto on Tuesday consoled Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja after he broke down while giving his speech.
The duo had attended the launch of the Nairobi School Feeding Programme at Roysambu Primary School, Nairobi.
Sakaja displayed his emotional side while speaking about the programme dubbed ‘Dishi na County’.
“Your excellency, sorry,” Sakaja said as he wiped tears off his eyes and seemingly tried to find the right words to say.
“Your excellency, ni uchungu ya hawa watoto,” he added after he finally regained composure.
The President told the governor that he will do everything humanly possible within his power to end hunger in the country.
“I want to tell my friend Arthur Sakaja Johnson that I feel you. I feel what you feel,” Ruto said.
“And as I said during the campaigns, we must eliminate the shame of hunger in our republic. And we must be intentional, we must be deliberate and have a plan on how to do it.”
The President added that the government has plans on how to grow food and curb hunger, saying the medicine to ending hunger is growing more food.
In this light, Ruto pledged that the government will enhance the school feeding programme.
Through Sakaja’s programme, school children in public schools and ECDEs within Nairobi will use Sh5 to get free meals in the 2023-24 financial year.
The governor has allocated Sh1.2 billion peer annum to run theDishi na County School Feeding Programme.
The groundbreaking of the construction of central kitchens took place in 10 subcounties on Monday.
Completion of the construction is expected to take about 10 weeks with the first meal expected to be served on the first day of the third term of this school year.
The subcounties include Dagoretti North, Embakasi Central, Embakasi South, Kasarani, Kibra, Makadara, Starehe, Roysamu, Ruaraka, and Westlands subcounties.
