What was launched last week as a great milestone for Machakos County may well become the newest White Elephant in the Wavinya Ndeti government.
Dubbed a unique program- ‘Maziwa ya Mama’, Feeding the Future, the surely
one-of-a-kind project aims to
feed, energize and enhance the health of children as they pursue
education in all 63 ECDE Centres in
Machakos County.
As she launched the project at
Mavoko, Wavinya likened it to the Maziwa
ya Nyayo, a Moi era milk plan that not only served to retain children in
school, but also prevented malnutrition among children especially those from
Arid and semi-arid regions.
Governor Wavinya claimed the programme would boost the earnings of dairy
farmers who, she further alleged, will supply the milk and live up to her
campaign mantra of 'Chakula Mezani,
Pesa Mfukoni'. No single farmer has been contracted to provide even a liter
of milk.
As we went to press, teachers
were in Mumbuni Location were being urged to collect milk supply from Manza
Primary School, meaning that transport to the schools will not be forthcoming.
She further said the project
would provide business opportunities to
investors in the transport
sector as they will get a chance to deliver milk across the County.
However, questions are
lingering over the total budget for the ECD milk project, the source of both
the money and the milk. Even as she launched the project to cheering officials
and children at Kyemutheke Polytechnic, details as to the scope, funding, sustainability,
procurement, packaging and farmer’s involvement were scanty.
Not even an invitation to
Wavinya’s Chief of Staff Lawrence Ngovi to shed light on the matter has helped
lift the lid on the project. This was the request for information “ Hello, COS.
Please let me know the total budget for the ECD milk programme, the number of
ECDs, and the source of the milk. Please also indicate who is packaging the
milk, the cost, and the duration of the programme.
You may add any other relevant
information that the county government of Machakos would want to share
about the project. The Anchor will update when a response is provided.
Observers fear that the ECD
Milk project may go the same way as the ECD Feeding Programme that Wavinya
launched last year. It ended before most schools could get one day’s supply of
food.
The Governor, a beneficiary of
the Moi plan said the generation that benefitted from the Maziwa Ya Nyayo scheme today forms a
bigger part of the present-day leaders and taxpayers in Kenya. “It is now time
to join hands and give back to the society. What a better way to do that than
to give our children the milk…”
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
Wavinya said the programme is
expected to increase enrollment, boost
nutrition among our children as well as improve their health and general
wellbeing.
The governor said the milk will be delivered weekly to all
schools at no cost to the
parents and urged the teachers and other caregivers to keep off the milk and
ensure proper storage to avoid
contamination.
