Rachel Ruto Celebrates 16 Years of Joyful Women’s Economic Transformation

By Ryan Mumo 

First Lady Rachel Ruto on Thursday led thousands of women at Kasarani Stadium in celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Joyful Women Organisation (JOYWO), hailing it as one of Kenya’s most powerful engines of grassroots economic change.

In a moving address, she traced JOYWO’s origins to 29 August 2009, when a handful of women met under a Grevillea tree in Eldoret to explore savings and table banking—a simple idea that would later ignite a nationwide movement. From those modest beginnings, she said, Joyful Women has become a “quiet revolution” that has empowered millions.

Today, JOYWO boasts more than 300,000 businesses established through its network and has directly impacted over three million lives across the country. 

Through table-banking groups operating in 44 counties, women have circulated more than four billion shillings—funds that have enabled families to start enterprises, educate children, build homes and rise out of poverty. The organisation has also distributed 50,000 water tanks and facilitated the planting of 50 million trees.

“These are not just statistics—they are footsteps of women who refused to remain unseen,” the First Lady said, emphasising that the foundation of JOYWO is integrity, trust and shared responsibility rather than money alone.

She highlighted inspiring success stories, including Meru’s Mrs Gitobu, who grew a dairy business into rental units, and Nairobi’s Diana, who started with just Sh500 and now runs a KEBS-certified line of honey, peanut butter and beauty products.

Mrs Ruto commended President William Ruto’s support for women’s economic empowerment through initiatives such as the Hustler Fund, the Nyota Fund and the Women Enterprise Fund, noting that “a country cannot grow if half its population is held back.”

She described JOYWO as a towering Mugumo tree—deeply rooted, united and ever-growing—symbolising women’s resilience across generations, from young entrepreneurs to grandmothers beginning anew in their 80s. She announced the roll-out of digital reporting and mobile table-banking tools to boost transparency and expand access nationwide.

Calling on women to continue uplifting one another, she declared: “You are no longer the women who were told ‘no’—you are the women who created your own ‘yes’.”

The celebrations culminated with President Ruto joining the gathering, marking another milestone in JOYWO’s transformative journey.