How First Lady Rachel Ruto is campaigning for 'Tutam'

For the first three years of her husband’s presidency, First Lady Rachel Ruto largely kept away from active politics, presenting herself as a prayer warrior and champion of social and women’s empowerment causes.

That appears to be changing.

With the 2027 General Election less than a year away, Rachel has, in the past 15 days, traversed seven counties, holding women’s empowerment meetings that have increasingly taken on political overtones and provided platforms to promote President William Ruto’s administration.

Between August 25 and September 9, the First Lady held events in Nyamira, Kisii, Homa Bay, Embu, Kirinyaga, Siaya and Kisumu.

Although Rachel has previously empowered women through her Joyful Women Organisation (JOYWO), including through table banking, the messaging and political presence at the recent meetings have raised questions over whether her initiative is taking on a new role as the administration prepares for the 2027 elections.

The meetings have coincided with increased political activity ahead of the polls, despite similar countywide empowerment tours not having been held at the same pace during her first three years as First Lady.

At her latest event in Siaya on Tuesday, Rachel struck a distinctly political chord, appearing to seek a response from the crowd before ending her remarks.

“Nikirudi Nairobi niambie nini Rais?...Niambie nini Rais?...Sijaskia tena... Asanteni sana,” she said, as the crowd shouted “Tutam” while waving two fingers.

The same slogan was heard in Kisumu, which she visited later that day.

Rachel has also repeatedly asked Kenyans to pray for the Government while praising the President’s performance.

“I’m requesting you to continue praying for our Government. We thank God for the President who is continuing to do a good job. Let's continue praying for him for God to give him strength, courage and good health,” she said in Embu on September 3.

Across the seven counties, her speeches have followed a similar script, highlighting Government programmes and projects, particularly affordable housing, electricity connections, the Women Enterprise Fund and the Hustler Fund.

One message has been repeated during the meetings.

“Under the leadership of President William Ruto, financial inclusion and enterprise development remain important pillars of our national transformation agenda. Through the women enterprise fund more than 28 billion has been disbursed to over 2.28 million women while the hustler fund has disbursed more than 90 billion to 28 million borrowers across the country.”

The First Lady has also used the meetings to highlight affordable housing projects in the counties she has visited, linking them to job creation and economic empowerment.

However, the scale of the activities and resources distributed during the events has raised questions about their financing.

The 2025/26 Controller of Budget report shows State House expenditure reached Sh18.5 billion against an allocation of Sh8.5 billion approved by Parliament in 2025. Rachel’s office was previously funded through the State House budget.

The events have been presented as JOYWO initiatives, with the organisation distributing food, farm inputs and household items to women and needy families.

In Embu, JOYWO distributed 5,000 coffee seedlings, 5,000 Hass avocado seedlings and 1,000 mosquito nets.

In Kirinyaga, the items included 260 bags of beans, 300 bags of rice, 1,005 blankets, 1,000 mosquito nets and 1,000 mattresses, in addition to 5,000 coffee and 5,000 Hass avocado seedlings.

In Homa Bay, 600 bags of rice and 520 bags of beans were distributed to families in need, while women’s groups received 10,000 Hass avocado seedlings, 2,000 day-old chicks and 20 water tanks.

Nyamira received 1,200 blankets, 80 mattresses and 5,000 Hass avocado seedlings, while in Siaya, 1,005 blankets, 20 bags of uji mix, 100 mattresses, 300 bags of rice and 250 bags of beans were distributed to needy families.

For empowerment, 5,000 mango, 5,000 orange and 5,000 vegetable seedlings were provided.

Outdoor market shade umbrellas, boxes of bar soap and milk cans for dairy farmers were also distributed in various counties.

The events have also raised questions about  crowd mobilisation and the extent to which they have become political platforms.

In Homa Bay, some women attending the empowerment meeting wore T-shirts branded “Warembo Na Ruto”, while others wore ODM-branded caps.

Government projects, including Talanta Stadium and the Standard Gauge Railway, were also displayed on banners at the event.

During the Kisii meeting, Nyaribari Chache MP Zaheer Jhanda appeared to allude to mobilisation while addressing the women.

“Si nyinyi mko kwa serikali. Si mnajua tena leo maneno iko sawasawa ama mnafikiria haiko,” he told them.

The political character of the meetings has been further reinforced by the presence of senior Government officials and political leaders allied to the broad-based Government.

In Kisii, Rachel was received by Governor Simba Arati and Nyaribari Chache MP Zaheer Jhanda. In Homa Bay, Governor Gladys Wanga and Principal Secretary for Children Services Caren Agengo attended.

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, PS Mary Muthoni and PS Anne Wang’ombe were present in Kirinyaga, while PS Esther Muoria, PS Muthoni and Embu Deputy Governor Justus Kinyua attended the Embu event.

In Siaya, Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi and PS Ouma Oluga were present. Oluga also attended the Kisumu event alongside Kisumu Deputy Governor Mathews Owili.

Some of the leaders openly turned the empowerment meetings into political platforms.

“Here in Siaya we are known for action. We have already made up our minds that when we reach next year on election day, Siaya will give Ruto over 99%,” Wandayi said on Tuesday.

The growing political messaging has revived questions about the role of the First Lady’s office in electoral politics, particularly after President Ruto announced austerity measures in July 2024 that included the removal of budget lines for the offices of the First Lady and other presidential spouses.

The announcement followed public backlash over a proposed allocation of about Sh700 million for the First Lady’s office to cater for operations, staff salaries and travel.

Rachel’s political activities also mark a departure from the approach of some of her predecessors. Former First Lady Margaret Kenyatta largely kept away from her husband’s political campaigns while focusing her public work on maternal and child health through the Beyond Zero initiative.

The question now is whether Rachel’s expanded women’s empowerment programme is primarily a social and economic initiative or whether it is also becoming a vehicle for mobilising support for President Ruto ahead of the 2027 election.

JOYWO is expected to hold its annual celebrations in the last week of November, with President Ruto expected to attend.