Written By Gerald Gekara
Machakos Governor Aspirant Nzioka Waita has committed to fulfilling the much-needed School Feeding program in a meeting with teachers’ welfare groups.
Accompanied by his running mate Florence Mwangangi ‘Suluhu’ met over five teachers’ welfare groups of Machakos Sub-county organized by their patron Emmah Mutisya.
The welfare groups; Masaku, Visionary, Destiny, and Pentagon comprise over 700 teachers.
Waita rued the poor performance of Machakos schools in national exams and pledged to make positive change when he is governor.
“We will change the environment which causes these problems”, he said as he promised to make Machakos county the best for ECDE in Kenya and improve the current teacher to pupil ratio in Machakos to 1:30 in the county with 100% enrollment.
The former State House Chief of Staff promised his government will also recruit ECDE teachers on permanent terms besides implementing the school feeding programme in Machakos.
On her part, Speaker Florence Mwangangi ‘Suluhu’ said that the county of Machakos needs managers and not politicians for development to happen.
“Waita and I are not politicians, we are workers who will devotedly deliver progress for all to enjoy across Machakos. You will be safe in our hands ”, she said as she committed to stopping corruption when in office.
Patron Emmah Mutisya expressed various challenges the teachers face and need to be addressed by the new administration that takes office in August leading to the poor working conditions and the lack of ECDE classrooms across the Sub-county of Machakos.
The Executive Secretary of the KUPPET in Machakos Musembi Katuku said that teachers feel ‘naked’ and uncovered due to the lack of support from the current county government of Machakos.
“The next county government must recognize all teachers starting ECDE up to the higher institutions level. KUPPET is a member of the Machakos County Executive Board -MCEB.”
He expressed great faith that Waita and Suluhu will honor an MoU signed with the MCEB on 2nd May 2022. The engagement of all teachers across Machakos on the contents of the MOU is ongoing.
Hon. Mutua Katuku who is aspiring to be the senator of Machakos, took a swipe at Deputy Governor Francis Maliti saying teachers should join Machakos in voting out leaders who lack integrity.
“Maliti is one who signs off money out of county coffers. He lied in the county debate. Let’s elect trustworthy people, Waita and Suluhu are reliable”.
Veronicah Kimondiu, presenting the word of exhortation at the event, expressed hope and faith on behalf of teachers that Waita and Suluhu will address vexing developmental issues in Machakos county.
The teachers were impressed by WaitaNaSuluhu’s promise that they will appoint a competent minister for education from the teachers’ fraternity besides ensuring that teachers visit places where education is doing well for benchmarking.
The ‘meet the teachers’ meetings will continue as Waita and Suluhu explain and commit to the MoU signed with the education stakeholders of Machakos.
