Ruth Mà «mbi (born 6 November 1980) is the founder and currently serving as the Executive Director of Women CollectiveâÂÂKenya (WCK), a communityâÂÂbased organization advocating for the rights of women in KenyaâÂÂs informal settlements. She is a human rights defender, community organizer, and womenâÂÂs rights activist whose work spans reproductive health, water access, housing rights, police accountability, and urban justice. She also coordinates Bunge la Wamama Mashinani, a grassroots womenâÂÂs movement in NairobiâÂÂs informal settlements.
Ruth Mà «mbi was born on 6 November 1980 in Kìamaiko, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. She lost her father at around ten years of age, which intensified her familyâÂÂs vulnerability in a context of poverty and informality. Growing up amidst structural inequality, informal housing, and limited access to basic services strongly influenced her later activism.
Her early involvement in community organizing included documenting extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and other forms of state violence in Mathare/Kìamaiko. She has cited that âÂÂno one had the guts to talk about it,â and this early human-rights documentation formed the foundation of her career as a defender. In 2014, she participated in a protective fellowship at the University of YorkâÂÂs Centre for Applied Human Rights (UK), further strengthening her advocacy skills and international exposure.
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mà «mbi was actively mobilizing communities around state violence, forced evictions, maternal health failures, and gender-based violations. She founded âÂÂWarembo Ni Yesâ (âÂÂYoung Women Say YesâÂÂ), a group mobilizing young women to participate in KenyaâÂÂs 2010 constitutional referendum process.
In 2008âÂÂ2009, Mà «mbi founded Bunge la Wamama Mashinani (âÂÂWomenâÂÂs Parliament at the GrassrootsâÂÂ), a women-led grassroots movement in NairobiâÂÂs informal settlements.
The movement focuses on:
Mà «mbi serves as Executive Director of WCK, a community-based organization addressing gender justice, reproductive rights, urban marginalization, water and sanitation, and informal-economy labour rights.
Key initiatives under her leadership include:
Mà «mbi emphasizes that unsafe abortion disproportionately affects poor women and girls, stating it is âÂÂa class issue.â She works with survivors of sexual violence, early pregnancies, and supports safe health services and legal remedies.
She coordinates the Nairobi Water Justice Working Group, highlighting how privatized water services disproportionately burden women in informal settlements.
Mà «mbi has campaigned against forced evictions, advocating for decent sanitation and accountability. In May 2020, she received a death threat linked to her work on the eviction of Kariobangi Sewage Village residents.
She has documented extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and police misconduct in informal settlements. Mà «mbi has faced harassment, arrest, and detention for her activism.
In August 2022, Mà «mbi ran for the Kìamaiko ward seat in Nairobi County Assembly elections, placing sixth out of thirteen candidates. She publicly supported former Justice Minister Martha Karua and participated in petitions challenging presidential election results.
Mà «mbi continues to live and work in the settlement contexts (Kìamaiko/Mathare) that shaped her activism. She also works to support girls affected by forced marriages and early pregnancies from across Kenya, including pastoral communities, finding ways to help them continue their education and access protection.
Ruth Mà «mbiâÂÂs activism has: