For much of his childhood, Isaya Yunge’s world revolved around his grandmother, livestock and rice plantations. Years later, that journey has taken him into the world of technology, international leadership and entrepreneurship — and now into the spotlight as the man who has won the heart of President William Ruto’s daughter, Charlene Ruto.
Yunge, a Tanzanian technology entrepreneur, became the centre of attention on Saturday, August 8, 2026, when he and Charlene held their traditional Koito ceremony in Kilgoris, Narok County.
Away from the colourful ceremony and the public attention surrounding his relationship with Charlene, Yunge has built a career around a very different kind of pursuit: finding ways to use technology to solve everyday problems affecting young people across Africa.
He is the co-founder and chief executive of SomaApps Technologies, the company behind SomaApp, a mobile platform that connects students with scholarship opportunities.
The idea was born out of a problem Yunge and his team noticed — many local and international scholarships go unclaimed simply because students who could benefit from them do not know they are available.
SomaApp was created to close that gap by bringing scholarship opportunities together and helping students find programmes for which they may qualify.
But education is only one part of Yunge’s technology journey.
Isaya Yunge
He also founded KAYA, a smart speaker that uses artificial intelligence to collect Africa-related data. Another of his ventures, Somafit, is a smartwatch designed to monitor health indicators such as blood pressure and heart rate in real time.
His wider ambition has been to encourage the use of mobile software, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologies in Tanzania and across the continent.
That technology journey has been supported by an academic and professional path that has taken him beyond Tanzania.
Yunge holds a bachelor’s degree from the Institute of Finance Management and has studied at the University of Cambridge. He has also undergone training by the Swedish Institute on sustainable business models and pursued studies in leading change at Cambridge.
Yet technology was not where his public journey began.
In 2006, Yunge was elected chairperson of the Junior Council of the United Republic of Tanzania, an early indication of his interest in youth leadership and representation.
His involvement with young people later took him to international platforms. He represented youth at a G8 Summit in Berlin after being selected as a UNICEF Africa Youth Ambassador.
His work in technology would eventually bring another string of recognitions.
In 2017, his startup won the GSMA Mobile Money Africa Hackathon award for best startup in Africa. He was subsequently named among Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30, a list that recognises young entrepreneurs and change-makers on the continent.
The following year, Yunge received the Queen’s Young Leaders Award from the late Queen Elizabeth II. The award recognised his work using technology to develop sustainable solutions and improve communities.
In 2019, he was named among Tanzania’s 50 most influential young people.
Behind those accolades, however, is a childhood that offers a sharp contrast to the technology ventures and international platforms that would later define his career.
Yunge was raised by his grandmother. During his childhood, he spent time herding goats and cattle and working around rice plantations.
It was a world far removed from the technology industry he would eventually enter.
His interest in technology grew stronger in 2014 after he attended a talk by American economist Jeremy Rifkin on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the sharing economy and collaborative commons.
The experience strengthened Yunge’s belief that technology could be used to find answers to some of the challenges facing Africa.
That belief has since become central to his work.
Through SomaApps, Yunge employs several people and continues to push for an environment where startups and innovators can grow. His focus remains on technology and the role young people can play in creating solutions for the continent.
His leadership journey has also continued beyond his businesses. Yunge is an alumnus of the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Programme and has positioned himself as an advocate for greater youth participation in developing technology-driven solutions.
Now, another chapter of his life is drawing public attention.
His engagement to Charlene Ruto brings him into one of Kenya’s most prominent families, but it also places a spotlight on a personal journey that began far from the political and social circles surrounding the Koito ceremony.
From a childhood spent under his grandmother’s care, herding livestock and working around rice plantations, Yunge has gone on to build technology ventures, represent young people on international platforms and earn recognition across Africa and beyond.
Today, his name is being discussed not only for the technology companies he has built or the awards he has collected, but also for the new chapter he is beginning with Charlene Ruto.