First Lady Margaret Kenyatta was today decorated as a national champion for driving the beyond Zero campaign with passion and unrivalled energy.

Leaders from Uasin Gishu County led by their governor Jackson Mandago said  the Beyond Zero campaign had achieved great milestones in the health sector and she deserves the title of a national champion in her own right.

The leaders said the First Lady would have chosen the comfort zone and remain in the background of the president but she chose to lead the Beyond Zero initiative from the front.

“She is a national champion in her own right for leading this initiative from the front. She would have chosen the comfort zone and remain in the background of the national leadership”, said the governor.

The Beyond Zero initiative aims to reduce maternal and child mortality in Kenya which remains unacceptably high. The country loses more than108,000 children annually before they celebrate their fifth birthdays while over 5500 women lose their lives while giving birth.

Incidentally, the First Lady was decorated with the “national champion title” in Eldoret, a town described nationally as the “city of champions”

The  resilient First Lady has remained in the North Rift this past week  training for the forthcoming Half Marathon in Nairobi on March8th.

Yesterday, after her morning training session in the town, the First Lady took time  off to hand over the 20th Beyond  Zero mobile clinic to the Uasin Gishu residents. Earlier, Mrs Magaret Kenyatta also visited the Eldoret School of the Hearing Impaired.

Governor Mandago said the county will remain supportive of the March 8First Lady’s Half Marathon which Mrs Margaret Kenyatta is currently training and preparing for.

Mandago requested the mother of the nation to consider holding the grand marathon, after the coming Half Marathon, in Eldoret which the county government will “support and sponsor”.

“You should prepare to hold the grand Beyond Zero marathon in Eldoret. We shall be happy to support and sponsor you”, said Mandago

The First Lady who was also physically decorated in Kalenjin traditional dress and head-band  said some counties are endowed with great resources whose financial benefits should be used to tackle the challenges the  respective counties face especially in  the provision of health care.

She said Uasin Gishu is endowed with great sporting heroes and the county leadership should invest in sporting tourism.  She said the greatest asset for this particular county lies in sporting tourism.

“It  (sporting tourism) gives the county a great opportunity to earn foreign exchange, that would be beneficial in providing resources to target some of the challenges the county faces”, said the First Lady.

Uasin Gishu, Elgeiyo Marakwet and Nandi counties are some of the three regions in the North Rift that are home to Kenya’s greatest and world acclaimed athletes including internationally acclaimed marathon giants.

Eldoret is officially described as the ‘city of champions’, Elegeyo Marakwet as the “county of champions” and Nandi County as the “home of champions.

“With such resources, a great deal can be done to boost the healthcare system in the county and subsequently help alleviate the plight of vulnerable mothers, young girls and children”, added the First Lady.

She however said a multi-sectoral approach, involving the national and county governments as well as other stakeholders would be best suited in enabling Uasin Gishu to tackle the challenges that plague its health sector.

But unlike the other counties, said the mother of the nation, Uasin Gishu County has the added advantage  of hosting the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital which makes the provision of  better health care in the region much easier.

She however said much more needs to be done in the fight to end preventable maternal and child deaths.

“Let us make this fight our priority, and in so doing, help save the lives of countless mothers and newborns”, said the First Lady.

The campaign is driven by the principle that “no woman should die while giving life” which the First Lady has used as a mantra to mobilize awareness and resources globally.

The campaign targets to purchase 47 fully kitted mobile clinics for all the counties. The funds raised so far have been used to purchase20 mobile clinics, 20  of  which have  already been handed over to different counties.

The First Lady said what remains important to the Beyond Zero initiative and its drivers , is that these clinics make a difference in saving the lives of mothers and children, who would normally not be able to access medical care.

She also congratulated the people of Uasin Gishu for ensuring the figures of HIV/Aids remain relatively low despite the County being amongst the most populous.

“Uasin Gishu is among Kenya's most populous counties; however, it is ranked thirty-third (33) countrywide in terms of the total number of people living with HIV”, noted the First Lady

She said this was a good indicator of the need to invest more in initiatives aimed at containing further spread of the killer disease.