Women rise through Kenya Kwanza’s BETA boost

It was a dream come true for Jacinta Leorto. After years of making and selling beads in Wamba, Samburu East, the mother of four and her colleagues were trained by Ushanga Kenya Initiative, a government project with partners that supports pastoralist women.

In 2022, the group flew out to Dubai, where they spent two weeks selling their products.

"That trip opened my eyes. Today, I sell my products online," Leorto, 54, said.

"Through beadwork, I have been able to educate my children. The last-born is in college. As a single mother, I meet all our needs like food and clothing. I pay my SHA premiums and don't worry about illness."

Leorto is a member of Ngishoni Beadwork Cooperative, comprising 40 mothers. There are now 190 such groups supported by the government. Ushanga Initiative has reached more than 200,000 women in 10 counties. This financial year alone, at least 2,000 have been trained.

"Ushanga does not serve the already privileged. Its beneficiaries are, by design and by necessity, the women most excluded from Kenya’s formal economy. The initiative operates exclusively in the 10 counties that form Kenya’s pastoral belt, communities where women have historically had little control over productive assets, limited access to formal financial services and few pathways to independent income," Ushanga Kenya Initiative national coordinator Dorothy Mashipei said. 

Ushanga’s focus is skills and capacity building, combating middlemen exploitation, improving market access locally, national and internationally, promoting digital commerce and supporting intellectual property and brand protection.

“We are creating digital hubs to enable them sell globally. If there is one thing President William Ruto is passionate about, it is Ushanga as a tool for the empowerment of pastoralist women," Mashipei said.

The programme is one of the many initiatives by the government that are transforming the lives of women across Kenya.

“The Kenya Kwanza administration is firm on the empowerment of women as a key driver of inclusive growth, as well articulated in the in Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA),” Gender PS Anne Wang’ombe said.

This is through addressing persistent structural inequalities facing women and girls such as poverty, unemployment, property exclusion, low levels of representation in decision-making, gender-based violence, FGM and difficulties in access to education.

Wang’ombe said many women have benefited from government interventions in empowerment and protection.

“Through Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (Agpo), for example, 30 per cent of government tenders are reserved for women. It is unfortunate that some women win the tenders but lack the funds to deliver on them,” the PS said.

To solve this problem, the government is working with banks to facilitate women’s access to credit.

In agriculture and food security, the government is supporting women to transition from subsistence production to commercial farming.

“In Kirinyaga county where I was the other day, coffee farmers enjoy better prices for their crop,” she said.

Wang’ombe said the government has sponsored a Bill in Parliament to enhance the protection and empowerment of widows, who often suffer several forms discrimination, including in property rights.

In education, Kenya has achieved gender parity at nearly all levels.

Although the two-thirds gender rule in elective and appointive positions has not been achieved, the number of elected women continues to increase every election, currently at 23 per cent in Parliament.

University of Nairobi sociologist Marygorety Otieno said low representation of women in elective positions should be addressed through implementation of the two-thirds gender principle.

“Compare Kenya to the small country of Rwanda, which has the world’s highest women representation at 64 per cent,” she said.

In the Judiciary, headed by Chief Justice Martha Koome and deputy CJ Philomena Mwilu, the representation on women is at 44 per cent. And for the first time, Kenya’s Attorney General is a woman, Dorcas Oduor.

Other women in high positions of power include Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o and Auditor General Nancy Gathungu. In 2024, President Ruto appointed Maj Gen Fatuma Ahmed as the first woman commander of the Kenya Air Force

“In the Executive, this is the administration with the highest number of women appointed as CSs, PSs, CEOs and chairpersons of boards,” Wang’ombe said.

Away from high-profile jobs, the government’s economic empowerment and inclusion programmes are transforming the lives of women and girls across the country.

But sociologist Otieno said public awareness of funds meant for women remains low.

“The funds are very important for women’s socioeconomic empowerment but many women do not know about them. In Nairobi, where people are better informed, the funds have worked very well,” she said.

“Since the Kenya Kwanza government came to power in 2022, the National Government Affirmative Action Fund, under the Ministry of Gender, Culture and Children Services, has supported 866,272 women through provision of grants for socioeconomic empowerment totalling Sh2.45 billion. Registered women’s groups are supported with grants for table banking and value addition initiatives,” NGAAF acting chief executive officer Grace Wasike said.

In the financial year 2022-2023, NGAAF supported 147,088 women in 2,325 registered groups with Sh427 million in grants.

Further, the fund gave 47,158 vulnerable students bursaries and scholarships for totalling Sh362 million.

In the financial year 2023-2024, the fund supported 196,804 women in 3,117 registered groups to the tune of Sh579 million. A total of 50,342 vulnerable students received bursaries and scholarships worth Sh496 million.

In 2024-2025, NGAAF gave Sh619 million to 221,270 women in 3,483 registered groups. A total of 59,654 vulnerable students received bursaries and scholarships worth Sh497 million.

NGAAF supported 297,279 women in 5,058 registered groups with Sh828 million grants in the 2025-2026 financial year. Further, 61,976 vulnerable students got bursaries and scholarships totalling Sh681 million.

“Bursaries from the Department of Gender and the county government have kept my children in school. I used to fear my daughter, Rehema, would drop out because I was unable to raise fees. Today, she is pursuing her secondary education uninterrupted,” said Guracha Jebaano, a parent in Tana River.

“The support towards women and vulnerable students has gradually been increasing owing to the fact that the fund has over the years received increased funding from the government. This is one of the Kenya Kwanza government’s initiatives of ensuring improved livelihoods of the affirmative action groups,” Wasike said.

NGAAF has also supported the distribution of three million sanitary pads to vulnerable students at a cost of Sh1.8 billion.

The Women’s Enterprise Fund had as at June disbursed Sh28.79 billion to 2.3 million women in 160,000 groups.

“In line with the President’s vision for women’s economic empowerment, the Women Enterprise Fund is breaking barriers to financial inclusion and unlocking opportunities for millions of Kenyan women,” CEO Rachael Musyoki said. 

“Through access to credit, capacity building, and market linkages, we are transforming women from participants in the economy into drivers of national prosperity.”

Other state programmes like Nyota fund, Kazi Majuu and affordable housing are designed to include women at 50 per cent of the available opportunities.

Celestina Wairimu, from Hindi in Lamu, is a happy beneficiary of government’s social protection initiatives specifically target vulnerable women.

“With financial support from Inua Jamii, I no longer rely on neighbours for food and medicine. Every two months, I receive the money in my phone to buy food and medication for high blood pressure,” she said.

The campaign against female genital mutilation spearheaded by the National Anti-FGM Board remains on course. The success stories include the decline of the practice from 38 per cent in 1998 to 15 per cent for persons aged 15 to 45 years by 2022. 

The national decline of FGM among the younger generation was nine by 2022 for ages 15 to 19 years. Samburu, Masaai, Pokot and Sabaot elders have vowed to end FGM in their communities.

Anti-FGM Board programme officer Nyerere Kutwa said the launch of county and subcounty anti-FGM steering committees has enhanced coordination of interventions.

County youth anti-FGM networks have been launched, as well as national and county survivors’ forums. Anti-FGM content has been included in the school curriculum up to Grade 3.

“The national budget is too meagre to cover all the 22 FGM hotspot counties, where the board implements Anti-FGM interventions. The board has resorted to enhance its resource mobilisation strategies from partners, which is still inadequate,” Kutwa said.