THE PROPOSED FREE SCHOOL MILK! HOW SUSTAINABLE IS IT?

A Senate Bill proposes all pupils be given free milk at school to improve their nutrition. The free school milk programme, Maziwa ya Nyayo, was introduced by President Daniel Moi in the 1980s. The Basic Education (Amendment) Bill, 2020 sponsored by nominated Senator Beatrice Kwamboka (ODM) proposes re-introduction of free supply of milk to all pupils and pre-primary learners. The Bill comes at a time when the government-funded school feeding programme has run into trouble due to a Sh500 million budget cut and the exit of the big donor, the World Food Programme[1].

When these proposals are put forward, the proposers never break down the details (numbers) of the bill and the public never get to ask what exactly this bill translates to financially. It is high time we Kenyans get to interact with what our so called Leaders proposals, because eventually there will be a direct impact on the country’s spending which is our taxes.

As at 2018, KNBS reported that there were 8,700,000 primary school going pupils. Assuming, each pupil receives 1 packet of Milk everyday at an approximate price of Kshs. 30 per packet, it therefore translates to Kshs. 261,000,000 per day. So if these pupils were to receive 5 packets of milk per week for a month, it translates to Kshs. 5.22 B per month. Annually, Kenya will be spending Kshs. 46.98B p.a.

On the flipside, Kenya Poverty Index was at 29% in 2018 (Approx 14.7M Kenyans) and was ranked eighth globally and sixth in Africa among countries with the largest number of people living in extreme poverty, according to the World Poverty Clock report, as they consume less than $1.90 (Sh197) per day or Sh5,910 monthly[2]. The average household size according to the Kenyan Census, 2019 is 3.9.  This therefore means, approximately 3,769,230 Kenyan households are living in abject poverty or below the poverty line.   

Kenya Economic Report-2020 - The level of formal employment in 2018 was 2.8 million, of which 1.9 million was in the private sector, 0.8 million in the public sector, and 0.2 million in formal self-employed and unpaid family workers. The informal sector engaged 14.9 million people with majority in wholesale and retail trade (8.9 million) followed by manufacturing at 3.0 million and community social and personal services at 1.4 million. Therefore, three sectors held the bulk of informal sector jobs at 89.3 per cent of total informal sector employment[3]. 

From this report, it is quite clear that the bulk of Kenya’s employment is from the informal sector. This begs the question: If the senator who is proposing the “Basic Education bill amendment” is genuine with Kenyans, why can’t she talk about the sustainability of proposed developments? If the amendment to the bill goes through, it therefore means, Kenya will be spending Kshs. 46.98 B p.a. on milk to school going pupils which in my view, if these monies were channeled to support the manufacturing industry which is one of the Key government big 4 agendas, it would translate to more job opportunities, thus making it possible for the 3,769,230 Kenyan households living below the poverty line to get a sustained source of income that would help the families not only keep their children in school but also be able to afford healthy meals for the households. This will translate to pushing up more than 50% of households which are below the poverty line, above the poverty line. This is a more “SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH/PROPOSAL”.

Well, as a fellow Kenyan, we all know what happened in the recent past. There was forced removal of leaders who were deemed not to support the government agendas, in various key senate committees and the national assembly, therefore your guess is as good as mine. This amendment will have very minimal resistance for its passing and we all know who has the monopoly in the dairy industry in Kenya.

KENYANS WE DESERVE BETTER!!!!

Authored by;

Brian N. Kavuwa.

briventures@gmail.com. 

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 15, 2020 at 4:55 AM

    If I were to make my comment in Swahili,"huu ni ukiritimba wa mabwenyenye"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Construction DairiesSeptember 15, 2020 at 4:58 AM

    You're are spot on. Its time we had leaders who are farsighted. I wish we could mirror leaders like Lee Juan Yew..

    ReplyDelete

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