Meru County MP Hon. Bishop Kawira Mwangaza has said that through President Uhuru Kenyatta, the national government provided food and seedlings to the Meru county government for the residents.
Speaking during the state of the county address on September 29th, Kawira said that the items were delivered to Meru Governor Kiaraitu Murungi’s administration. She said that many Meru County residents expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of food and seedlings.
It is for this reason that Hon. Bishop Kawira Mwangaza has returned to Parliament to question the CS Devolution and ASALs about the whereabouts of the food and siblings sent to the Meru county government. Meru County is in drought, and many people are crying.
Meru County MP Hon. Bishop Kawira Mwangaza asked the following questions to the CS. Devolution & ASALs on 19th Oct 2021:
(ii) What steps is the Ministry taking to ensure food security in Meru County, particularly during natural disasters such as floods, drought and famine?
(ii) What measures has the Ministry put in place to establish natural disaster preparedness mechanisms in Meru County particularly with regard to floods, drought and famine?
According to Kawira, She has visited many schools in Meru County and witnessed situations in which a child arrives at school without having eaten breakfast, never eats lunch, and almost certainly never eats supper when they get home.
“When the teacher is teaching, the child is not paying attention in class because he or she is hungry. Now that drought has been experienced in many parts of Meru County, according to my knowledge, it is the sole responsibility of the County government to protect its people,” said Kawira.
According to Kawira, any government, whether county or national, has a mandate to protect its people, which is why we talk about devolution, which entails bringing leadership and development closer to the people.
“Now that the draught has reached the Mashinani, we want to know how the county government intends to protect the people there. There were no seedlings to plant, and it never rained,” she said.
“Families are sleeping hungry, and we demand to know what measures the manager and president of Meru County have put in place to ensure that our children do not miss class because they are hungry,” she posed.
Kawira said that on behalf of the residents of Meru County, she demanded to know how millions of shillings were spent to purchase milk for students in Meru County schools.
“I’ve never seen anyone holding a milk packet in any of the Meru County schools I’ve visited. We demand that the Meru county government provide us with a list of the schools that have received milk. We also demand how much money was used in purchasing the milk,” she said.
According to Kawira, we cannot start a project and start and stop in the middle because we have satisfied ourselves.
She demanded a list of students from Kiraitu Murungi’s government who received the milk and the amount of money that was used to buy milk that would otherwise have been used to buy cereals that would have been supplied to schools for our children to eat.
“Today, if you ask me how many schools I’ve donated water tanks to, I’ll give you a list. Today, if you ask me how many schools I’ve delivered lockers to, I’ll give you a list. If you ask me today how many community groups I’ve funded, I’ll give you a list of the groups, the communities, the constituencies, and the amount of money used,” she said.
Kawira demanded to know how the government, as the protector of its citizens, intended to protect those who are starving in dry areas.
She humbly requested that if the money was still being used to buy milk, it be used to buy cereals so that children do not attend school hungry and will have eaten in school even if they do not eat at home.
