KISUMU WEST, 8th Sept 2026 – It was song, dance and ululation at Kisian Centre as First Lady Rachel Ruto distributed an assortment of goods to 59 Joyful Women Groups and schools across Kisumu West.
The 365-member groups received 1,005 blankets, 100 mattresses, 300 bags of rice, 210 bags of beans, 20 bags of Uji Mix, and 40 boxes of soap to cushion vulnerable families.
To boost long-term livelihoods, she also donated 20,000 seedlings with 10,000 food seedlings, 5,000 mango, 5,000 orange, and 5,000 assorted vegetable seedlings, alongside 20 water tanks for schools.
Speaking during the event, Mama Rachel urged women to embrace welfare groups as a path to prosperity.
“When women come together, that isolation disappears. They find someone to lean on, to learn from and to work with. Here in Kisumu, women are proving that when one sister stands with another, extraordinary things can happen,” she said.
She said the Joyful Women movement aligns with President William Ruto’s vision of women’s economic empowerment.
“It is about creating more opportunities for women to turn their hard work into income and enterprise. 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.”
The First Lady challenged women to remain steadfast in their daily hustles — 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 celebrated Kisumu’s trailblazing spirit, citing the late Grace Onyango, East Africa’s first female mayor in 1965 and Kenya’s first female MP in 1969.
“She did not wait for permission to lead. She stepped forward and showed what a woman given an opportunity can achieve.”
The First Lady further praised the close working relations between the national and county governments, saying the collaboration is bearing fruit for residents.
She cited the Kisumu County Women, Youth and People with Disabilities Revolving Fund, established under the Public Finance Management Act, which has disbursed Sh24 million in microloans to over 70 small businesses across 13 groups in every ward. The beneficiaries have also received business training from the Department of Women, Youth and Social Services, Plan International and Kenya Female Advisory Organization.
At the national level, she highlighted over Sh44 billion worth of projects transforming Kisumu County: Sh34 billion for 14,000 affordable housing units, Sh1.5 billion to modernize landing beaches with cold storage facilities for women fish traders, and Sh3 billion to elevate Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) to a Level 6 facility and Regional Sickle Cell Centre.
Other projects include the modernization of Kisumu Port, Jubilee and Kibuye markets, and the establishment of agro-aggregation hubs in Ahero and West Kano.
“For the women who farm, trade, sell fish and run small businesses, these are opportunities to access better markets and grow their incomes,” she noted.
Concurring, Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr. Mathew Owili said governments exist to improve the lives of the people under their jurisdiction.
“It is through these acts of humanity that we bridge the existential gaps in the budget to assist our people,” he said, while drumming up support for President Ruto’s second term bid.
Principal Secretary for Gender and Children Services Caren Ageng’o said the gesture was testimony that the First Lady loves the women of Kisumu and that her Mama Doing Good initiative is reaching the most needy.
Her counterpart PS Health Ouma Oluga said the elevation of JOOTRH will be a game changer for primary healthcare in the greater western region through SHA and the indigents program.
“In four months, the government has also completed the construction of Nyalenda Hospital in Kisumu East and it is now operational. We have also set aside Sh50 million for the construction of Kosawo Hospital in Manyatta-Kisumu Central SubCounty,” he added.
Mama Rachel urged members to actively use table banking, grow their enterprises and recruit more women. She later visited Lwala Kadawa Comprehensive School to engage with students and women.
“If there is a woman here today who has not yet joined Joyful Women, do not stand on the sidelines. Join a table, join a group. Bring another woman with you. Together, let us save. Together, let us learn. Hatua kwa hatua na mama wote kote nchini.”
She invited the groups to the national Joyful Women celebrations in Nairobi this November, saying she was happy to be back in Kisumu Dala and will continue building on what both levels of government are doing.
