- Rachel Ruto urges Kisumu women to join welfare groups and grow enterprises.
- She highlights table banking as a path to stronger livelihoods.
- 59 women’s groups and schools received food, bedding and farming supplies.
First Lady Rachel Ruto has called on women in Kisumu County to embrace welfare groups, saying the model turns hard work into real income and lasting enterprise.
Speaking at Kisian, where she distributed goodies to various groups, she said opportunity extended to one woman rarely stays with her alone.
“When a woman steps through a door of opportunity, she never walks alone. She opens the way for her children, her community and her nation,” she said.
She added that when women come together, isolation disappears. They find someone to lean on, someone to learn from, and someone to work alongside. Kisumu, she said, is proving that when one woman stands with another, extraordinary things can happen.
A movement aligned with national vision
According to the First Lady, the Joyful Women movement she visited during the trip aligns with President William Ruto’s broader vision for women’s economic empowerment. She challenged women to stay committed to their daily work, whether that’s farming rice in Ahero, trading tilapia at the beach landings, or running stalls in the city.
“This is not mere survival. It is agribusiness, market trade and value addition, building sustainable long term wealth,” she said.
Mama Rachel also paid tribute to Kisumu’s history of trailblazing women, pointing to the late Grace Onyango, East Africa’s first female mayor in 1965 and Kenya’s first female MP in 1969. According to the First Lady, Onyango didn’t wait for permission to lead. She stepped forward and showed what a woman given opportunity can achieve.
National and county projects highlighted
Collaboration between national and county government is delivering real results for Kisumu residents, the First Lady said. She cited the Kisumu County Women, Youth and People with Disabilities Revolving Fund, established under the Public Finance Management Act, which has disbursed Ksh24 million in microloans to more than 70 small businesses across 13 groups spread across every ward.
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Beneficiaries have also received business training from the Department of Women, Youth and Social Services, Plan International, and the Kenya Female Advisory Organization.
For women who farm, trade, sell fish and run small businesses, she noted, these projects mean better markets and stronger incomes.
Officials weigh in
Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr. Mathew Owili agreed, saying governments exist to improve the lives of the people they serve. Bridging budget gaps through acts of humanity, he said, is exactly how government should serve its people, while also drumming up support for President Ruto’s second term bid.
Principal Secretary for Gender and Children Services Caren Ageng’o said the gesture reflected the First Lady’s commitment to Kisumu’s women, adding that her Mama Doing Good initiative continues to reach those who need it most.
Health Principal Secretary Ouma Oluga said elevating JOOTRH would transform primary healthcare across the greater western region through SHA and the indigent support programme. Nyalenda Hospital in Kisumu East, he noted, was completed and made operational within just four months, and Ksh50 million has now been set aside for constructing Kosawo Hospital in Manyatta Kisumu Central Sub county.
A call to join, and a promise to return
Mama Rachel encouraged members to make active use of table banking, grow their enterprises, and bring more women into the fold. Any woman who hasn’t yet joined Joyful Women, she said, shouldn’t watch from the sidelines. Join a table, bring another woman along, and build something together, one step at a time, across the country.
She also extended an invitation to the national Joyful Women celebrations happening in Nairobi this November, expressing happiness at being back in Kisumu Dala and a commitment to keep building on the work already underway between national and county government. She later visited Lwala Kadawa Comprehensive School to engage with students and women there.
Donations distributed across Kisumu West
During the event, Mama Rachel distributed an assortment of goods to 59 women’s groups and schools across Kisumu West constituency. Groups totalling 365 members received 1,005 blankets, 100 mattresses, 300 bags of rice, 210 bags of beans, 20 bags of Uji Mix, and 40 boxes of soap, meant to cushion vulnerable families.
To support longer term livelihoods, she also donated 20,000 seedlings, comprising 10,000 food seedlings, 5,000 mango, 5,000 orange, and 5,000 assorted vegetable seedlings, along with 20 water tanks for area schools.
By Fredrick Odiero
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