Nyandarua County MP, Faith Gitau wants the National government to reallocate funds meant for sanitary towels to the Affirmative Action Fund.
Gitau, who regretted that the funds now with the ministry of gender were not being used to supply the towels, noted the need for the fund to be reallocated to the Women Representative saying they were better placed to manage it.
“The ministry has been citing procurement issues that have stalled the programme, yet we were supposed to oversee the distribution as we as Women Reps are in touch with our girls,” she said in Ndaragwa Township Tuesday.
She added that the women MPs across the country had been forced to use their own money to run the programme that was once managed by the Ministry of Education.
“The children and the teachers are desperately in need of these towels yet the government has allocated over Sh. 400 million towards the kitty,” added Gitau.
She pleaded with the president to consider the position that the women reps held in the county noting that they were better placed to understand the girl child’s predicament.
“I feel that we are better placed to distribute and manage the sanitary towels the same way we manage to disburse bursaries to the needy students and other funds to various women and youth groups,” noted the Women Rep.
As the world marked the Menstrual Hygiene Day today, many girls in Nyandarua County missed school during menstruation for lack of sanitary towels.
According to the National Council for Population Development (NCPD) Nyandarua county’s dependency level is high at 86 percent with many families living below the poverty line as compared to other counties.
By Anne Sabuni
