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    "id": 806814,
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    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me an opportunity to second this important Motion. I would like to inform the House that the school feeding programme has been going on in some parts of Kenya, including my constituency Makueni. It has been useful but not uniform across the country. Even within the semi-arid areas and Makueni, not every school benefits. The manner in which the Government identifies the schools to enrol in the School Feeding Programme is not consultative. Therefore, there is need to expand the Feeding Programme such that it goes to all schools. If it is in every single primary and public school - whether boarding or not - it is one way of making sure that a child in the country has a meal a day even when there is famine or not. At any one given time, you cannot really establish which area has sufficient food and which one does not. I also want to thank our partners like the World Food Programme (WFP), headed by Hon. Beasley - the former Governor of South Carolina. He is now based in Rome as the Director of this Programme. He has been making a huge effort all over the world for people to make donations in terms of food so that we can make sure that no child in the world perishes from hunger. There are ways in which they work through the country. They work through the Ministry of Devolution and Planning and the Ministry of Education. Should this be domiciled in the Ministry of Education or should we allow WFP and other non-state actors to implement the programme. That is because its biggest challenge has been implementation. If it is within the schools and every primary school has access to School Feeding Programme, which method will we apply so that we make sure that every school has food mostly for lunch, and it is a balanced diet so that children can have a full meal, at least, once while in school? Even those children who walk home for lunch can have a meal. Some will walk home and not find a meal and they will walk back to school without a meal. There will be no accountability in that. We need to come up with a clear method and fulfill Article 53 (1) (c) of the Constitution of Kenya. We also need to ensure that there is fair distribution in the country and all children benefit from the programme. Therefore, there has been an effort in the country to feed children at school, but it has not been well coordinated. There have been floods and even places with dominantly a lot of food were adversely affected by those floods. Most of the harvest will not be as it usually is. Therefore, I urge Members to support this important Motion. It affects each and every one of us. Every village in this country has a primary school. It is one way of making sure that all children in the nation are fed and enjoy the benefits of the provisions of the Constitution. The moment you feed a child, you have fed a nation. The moment we make sure there is a school feeding programme, for sure, a child will look forward to go to school and have a meal. That is because they may not have a meal at home. Therefore, I thank Hon. Vincent Kemosi for bringing this very important Motion, which I beg to second."
}