Legislator seeks government support towards school lunch programme

Nakuru West Member of Parliament Samuel Arama intends to table a bill in parliament aimed at compelling the government to pay for day schools lunch programmes.
Arama noted that majority of the children attending public day secondary schools come from poor backgrounds and cannot afford the Sh. 4,000 needed to pay for their lunch during the school term.
The legislator said that it was unfair to allow children attend school on a hungry stomach, hence the need to make it a requirement for the government to pay for their lunch.
Arama was speaking at Mama Ngina primary school, where he presented the school with a bus to ease their movement. He also presented another bus to Mwariki Secondary school in the same constituency.
The two buses were purchased at a cost of Sh. 14 million.
Saying that most of his constituents are low income earners who hardly make enough for their daily needs, he expressed the need to hold discussions with other stakeholders and the government so as to come up with a sustainable approach towards the lunch programme.
He argued that it was not enough for the government to only provide books and learning materials to children as they cannot make good use of them on a hungry stomach.
Arama said that as a leader he has a responsibility to ensure that the government caters for the needs of his constituents, hence his decision to table the motion of lunch provision once parliament convenes.
By Jane Ngugi