Kenya: Why I Ordered Tata Chemicals Out of Kenya - Ruto

What the report says

President William Ruto has said Tata Chemicals should leave Kenya, arguing that the company has benefited from Lake Magadi’s mineral wealth in Kajiado County for roughly a century without doing enough to create jobs or local industry. The remarks, reported by Capital FM and distributed by AllAfrica, were made in Kajiado on Thursday, 3 September 2026.

According to the report, Ruto said the government will look for a new investor for the resource, but any replacement would face stricter requirements. He said future operators should process minerals locally and build manufacturing capacity in Kajiado, including factories tied to glass and chemical production, rather than relying on raw-material exports. He framed the issue as part of Kenya’s broader debate over how much value communities should receive from natural resources extracted in their areas.

The article says Tata Chemicals Magadi, formerly Magadi Soda Company, has operated at Lake Magadi since 1911 and became part of Tata Chemicals in 2005. It extracts trona and turns it into soda ash for uses such as glass, detergents, chemicals and water treatment. The company has also been a major exporter. The report adds that its mining operations were suspended from 28 July 2026 over compliance and licensing concerns, and that a High Court hearing on a petition challenging a possible resumption is set for 18 November. That legal and regulatory backdrop makes the president’s comments especially significant for the future of the site.