The High Court has declined a petition against Governor Johnson Sakaja’s flagship school feeding program, Dishi Na County in Nairobi.
High Court judge Justice Chacha Mwita cleared the programme on Friday while renedring a decision in a case filed by politician Janet Ouko.
The former County Executive Committee Members for Education argued the program lacked the necessary public participation and suggested that the funds could have been better utilized to build classrooms.
However, Judge Mwita emphasized the importance of the Nairobi Feeding Program for the welfare of hundreds of thousands of school-going children.
Further, he said that matters concerning children’s welfare must be prioritized, thus justifying the dismissal of the case.
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Nairobi Health and Nutrition CEC Member Suzanne Silantoi praised the ruling, highlighting its significance for Nairobi’s children, saying one in four children previously missed school due to hunger.
“The Governor, Johnson Sakaja, prioritized food in schools after discovering that hunger was causing children to miss school.”
She reported that since the program’s inception, over 17 million meals have been served, benefiting more than 200,000 pupils who receive hot, nutritious meals daily at a cost of 5 shillings each.
Silantoi also mentioned plans to expand the program by completing seven more kitchens in Nairobi, which would bring the total to 17 kitchens serving over 307,000 children.
This will cover the entire scope of children in Nairobi’s public ECDE and Primary schools have access to the meals.
The program will also be extended to children in informal primary schools at a later stage of implementation.
Launched last year, Dishi na County began with the groundbreaking of 10 kitchens across Nairobi, and the first meal was served on August 28, 2023.
The program is a partnership between Nairobi County and Food4Education, a non-profit organization that also operates in other counties, including Muranga and Mombasa.
