Fact-Check: Ruto says only two women promises remain. Is that true?

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

What you need to know:

- We track President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Women Charter pledges and assess what has been delivered.

- From healthcare and school feeding to Cabinet slots, key pledges to Kenyan women remain unfinished.

When President William Ruto launched the Kenya Kwanza Women Charter a few months before the 2022 General Election, he made a series of specific pledges to Kenyan women, from healthcare and cabinet representation to school feeding and bursaries.

Speaking during the Presidential Town Hall, one of the sessions held as part of the National Health Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi last week, the President said he had fulfilled most of the pledges he made to women in the Kenya Kwanza Women Charter, adding that only two remained.

We tracked each pledge in the charter and where it currently stands.

Hustler healthcare: Free NHIF insurance cards for indigent women and affordable income-based premiums for others

This promise evolved into the Social Health Authority (SHA) framework. Over 32.3 million Kenyans are now registered, and more than eight million people have received medical treatment under the system. The state has rolled out sponsored packages targeting over 2.2 million vulnerable Kenyans, with ongoing programmes intended to absorb additional low-income families through state allocations and county partnerships.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, about 1.08 million women have received free or subsidised maternity and delivery services, including over 22,000 teenage mothers.

Diaper support for mothers with newborns

This promise, free diapers for newborns for the first three months, has yet to be fulfilled. Ruto admitted his administration's failure to honour it, saying the government is finalising plans to include free diapers for new mothers as part of the expanded SHA maternal benefits package.

He said that as the government moves forward, the issuance of diapers to mothers with newborns would be included in the reviewed maternal benefit package under SHA by October 30, adding that the expanded package will cover mothers, their children and their families.

Sanitary towels: Free sanitary pads for all schoolgirls

State-funded distribution remains erratic, hampered by budget cuts and delayed procurement. Allocations for vulnerable schoolgirls and affirmative action programmes such as the National Government Affirmative Action Fund have faced persistent budget cuts, reducing the frequency and volume of pad distribution. While recent, 2026, reporting indicates that sanitary products are present in a majority of public primary schools, systemic supply chain reliability and the comprehensive disposal mechanisms mandated by the Basic Education Act remain poorly enforced.

Cabinet allocation: Reserving 50 per cent of Cabinet positions

The President has yet to fulfil this promise. Out of 22 to 25 core Cabinet-level members, his administration has consistently featured only six to seven female Cabinet Secretaries (CS), representing roughly 27 to 30 per cent rather than the pledged 50 per cent.

When the President unveiled his initial 22-member Cabinet, only seven positions, about 32 per cent, went to women, falling short of the promised 11 slots. Later reshuffles and broad-based government realignments did not improve the ratio, leaving female CSs at numbers ranging between five and seven.

Last June, the High Court of Kenya ruled that the composition of the administration's 25-member top executive body violates the constitutional two-thirds gender principle, giving the administration a 120-day window to reconstitute the team to include at least nine women.

Implementing the two-thirds gender rule within 12 months

This campaign promise, to fully implement the two-thirds gender rule in elective and appointive public positions within 12 months of taking office, has not been achieved. The 12-month target lapsed in September 2023, without the administration enacting the necessary legislative framework or hitting the targeted gender balance.

Successive Cabinet formations have consistently fallen short, hovering around 30 per cent or fewer female members. The High Court recently declared President Ruto's Cabinet unconstitutional for violating the two-thirds gender rule under Article 27(8) of the Constitution and ordered a reconstitution to achieve compliance.

Allocating 50pc of Sh50bn Hustler Fund to women-owned enterprises

The specific promise to exclusively allocate a ring-fenced 50 per cent (Sh25b) of a direct Sh50b taxpayer-funded pool to women-owned enterprises has not been strictly or formally achieved in that exact proportion. The government did not continuously inject the full proposed annual Sh50b straight from the national budget into the Hustler Fund, and official reports show that total direct Treasury disbursements fell far short of the initial political projections.

School feeding: Expanding the school feeding programme

This pledge, which was in the Kenya Kwanza Charter, has seen moderate progress, expanding from 1.6 million to 2.6 million learners, but currently faces severe funding shortfalls and budget deficits that threaten its daily execution. High-profile urban initiatives such as Nairobi's "Dishi na County" have scaled up significantly, but full nationwide universal coverage remains a work in progress, with a target year of 2030.

Automatic bursaries for children of single mothers and teenage mothers returning to school

This promise has seen piecemeal policy rollouts and localised county-level initiatives rather than a comprehensive, universal national framework. The President told the town hall that his government is expanding resources to foot the bill for teenage mothers returning to school.

Special incentives for women excelling in Stem

This promise has not been comprehensively or systematically achieved, remaining largely unimplemented as a distinct policy framework. While the administration has introduced broad educational reforms, such as a new higher education funding model, a focus on technical and vocational education, and partnerships aimed generally at narrowing the gender gap in technology, targeted national incentives or automatic support specifically earmarked for women excelling in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) have not materialised into operational reality. A targeted national incentive package for female Stem achievers has not been formally legislated or operationalised.

Leadership capacity: Establishing a special leadership institute at the Kenya School of Government (KSG)

The President has substantially fulfilled this commitment through the formal launch of the Raila Amollo Odinga Regional Leadership and Governance Academy on Lower Kabete campus in Nairobi. It functions as an executive hub within the KSG, upscaling professional governance, strategic public sector management and high-level policy dialogue across Kenya and the wider East African region. It will focus on current and emerging public service and political leaders across Kenya and Africa, among them women.

Women's rights agency: Creating a dedicated agency at the office of the president to protect women and girls from GBV and abuse

The President has partially fulfilled this promise by establishing the Office of the Women's Rights Advisor within the Executive Office of the President, rather than a standalone statutory agency. This office coordinates policy, gender mainstreaming and mitigation campaigns against gender-based violence (GBV), and operates directly from the Presidency, handling initiatives such as the Safe Home, Safe Space campaign. Civil society and human rights groups note that a formal, independent women's rights agency with autonomous legal enforcement or direct budgetary allocation has not been codified.

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.