SPEECH BY H.E.

MARGARET KENYATTA, THE FIRST LADY OF

THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA, DURING THE HANDING OVER OF THE
31ST BEYOND ZERO MOBILE CLINIC TO BOMET COUNTY ON 6 TH
AUGUST 2015
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to be in Bomet County today for the

handing over of the 31stBeyond Zero mobile clinic. Thank you all for
the warm reception you have accorded us.
Bomet has a very healthy agricultural outlook with a great deal of the
maize, tea and dairy products consumed in our country coming from
this area. That is why it is also known as the "Green County".
I urge the county government to look into ways of processing
the county's agricultural produce locally so that the benefits of value
addition trickle directly into farmers pockets.
Your county is truly blessed and endowed with vast resources, another
one which is a youthful and energetic population that is full of great
ideas.

To the youths, you are not just our future but our present. Kenya is
looking up to you to take us to the next level. Take advantage of the
available
funds through
various Government programmes like the Uwezo and
the
Youth
Enterprise Development Funds to start new enterprises.

I have learnt that the County Government of Bomet has done

a commendable job in the health sector with a good distribution of
health facilities and medical personnel. Through the Beyond Zero

clinic, we come to complement what is already in place, with an aim of

availing crucial health facilities in hard to reach places.
Following on from the recently concluded 9th Stop Cervical, Breast
and Prostate Cancer Conference held in Nairobi, I urge you to go for
early screening and testing in order to detect and treat any early
warning signs of this dreaded disease.
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the Bomet County First
Lady, Eng. Esther Ruto, for spearheading the formation of the recently
launched County First Ladys association to guide development in the
counties.

She has also done a splendid job of mentoring school girls and
distributing free sanitary towels to them. The sanitary pad initiative
ensures that girls do not lose valuable school days every month.

This week, is World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) which calls for

concerted global action to support women to combine breastfeeding
and work.

As a mother, I wholly support this years theme: Breastfeeding and

Work- lets make it work. Let us commit to enable mothers to
bring up a healthy next generation through exclusive breastfeeding
for the first six months.

As I conclude, I wish to assure you that we, as a country, are

committed to getting to Zero preventable maternal and child deaths.
We will also eliminate instances of mother to child transmission of the
HIV virus during childbirth.

It is only through co-operation and mutual understanding that we can

see our dreams achieved.

Kindly now join me in handing over the 31 st mobile clinic proudly

sponsored by the Wemyss Charitable Trust to your Governor,
Isaac Ruto, on behalf of the people of Bomet County.

Thank you.