What Tessie Mudavadi's new office will focus on

The State has created the office of the Spouse of the Prime Cabinet Secretary to complement the work done by the First and Second ladies of the country.

Tessie Musalia, the wife of Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi will run the new office.

The office will focus on improving the lives of children and vulnerable families including the elderly.

Other activities the office will focus on include enhancing health with an emphasis on maternal and child care, climate change, youth empowerment, and advancing causes that bring dignity to persons living with disabilities.

Mrs Tessie Musalia through the Ushirika Wema Initiative has now stepped forward to scale down the huge gap that lies within the differently abled people in society.

''The role of the office entails contributing to enhancing the standard of living of Kenyans and providing the less fortunate in our communities an opportunity to live a dignified life," she said.

''I am privileged to be part of strong, passionate, resilient women of Kenya and its citizens in various capacities,'' Mrs Musalia said.

Balozi wa Familia, as she is fondly known, further said, jointly with the private sector, people of goodwill, and donors, the organisation will be able to touch many lives.

''There was a time I donated an incubator to the Mwai Kibaki Referral Hospital in Nyeri which had not had such a facility before. Tell me before then, how many lives had been lost and how many have been saved to date,'' she stated.

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Nairobi on Friday evening, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi urged the public to find time and reflect on the lives of the vulnerable families in the society.

''There are things that are always under our nose and we take them for granted. Now Tessie you are stepping out and coming out forcefully so that you can jolt our minds so that we can work together.

This will enable you to help, in your own way, and complement other efforts not necessarily mine but other efforts by other Kenyans in helping and supporting our society," he said.

Mudavadi further noted that leaders lose a lot of time dwelling on non-issues and neglecting human interest matters.

He noted that days when the spouses of political leaders only graced ceremonies and stayed silent or did nothing are already gone.

''Let us stand out, and come forward as a society so that we can pull together and support this noble cause that will impact many lives. Their contribution to our family set-up should be mirrored to the larger society for they learn so much from our daily leadership engagements,'' Mudavadi said.

Mudavadi noted that it is only in Kenya that people living with disabilities are provided with ramps as the only option for movement and it is high time they should also given dignified life.

''We should start thinking about how much braille costs for our learners with special needs to acquire education. How much does it cost for a blind student or person to navigate through life? We need to do something," he said.

The Prime CS observed that forming the Office of the Spouse to The Prime Cabinet Secretary is a step in the right direction that will see many families benefit.