Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has said there is a plan to ensure that children in the alternative informal schools are included in the Dishi na County feeding programme.
In an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday, he refuted claims of discrimination by serving food to pupils, only focusing on public primaries.
Sakaja explained that there is a shortage of public primary schools in Nairobi and the institutions' policy where learners cannot be moved out of the school line.
"When we went to Olympic Primary School they said no child should be moved out of the school line. So, all of these children in informal schools that are not in public primary schools are going to be marched to the closest primary school eventually," he said.
"So at lunchtime, they can go to that school, have a meal and go back to their schools. Eventually, we want all children. That is the intention of Dishi na County. There is no discrimination."
Sakaja began the county school feeding programme in August 2023, where he built 10 central kitchens.
On March 27, he presided over the groundbreaking of seven central kitchens, which, when completed, will see all subcounties have a central kitchen under the Dishi na County programme.
The seven kitchens are Dandora 1 Primary School ( Embakasi East), Donholm Primary School ( Embakasi North), Mutuini Primary School ( Dagoretti South), Uhuru Gardens Primary School ( Langata), Ndururuno Primary School (Mathare sub-county), Umoja 1 Primary School ( Embakasi West) and Zawadi Primary School (Kamukunji).
Dishi na County serves 184,000 meals and with the extra kitchens, the governor said they will be able to meet 250,000 children.
Parents pay Sh5 for the meal and the county has declared it "the most affordable [lunch meal] in Kenya."
The cost of the meal per child is Sh40. The county pays Sh25 and a donor pays Sh10 for every child.
It is a way of fulfilling the pledge Sakaja made on the campaign trail, to address urban poverty.
He said one out of every four learners has not been going to school due to hunger.
Some of the learners are forced to save some of the food they are served for their siblings and parents
