Kenyan President William Ruto has ordered India’s Tata Chemicals to leave the country, accusing it of failing to build local industry and jobs using Kenya’s raw materials. He also announced plans to bring in a new investor to replace the company and establish glass and chemical industries in the Kajiado region.
Speaking during a visit to Kajiado County in southern Kenya on Thursday, Ruto said Tata and its predecessor companies had extracted soda ash from Lake Magadi for more than a century but had failed to play the expected role in establishing local industry or creating adequate employment.
Ruto said the Tata company had a 100-year agreement, but had built nothing and set up no factory in Kajiado. “Are we to remain slaves to others?” he asked.
Ruto said the government has taken steps to bring in a new investor to replace Tata Chemicals. Under the plan, a large glass manufacturing plant and another chemical production plant would be established in Kajiado. The government’s goal is to boost local value addition, industrialization and employment, rather than simply extracting and exporting raw materials.
Earlier, on July 28, Kenya’s Ministry of Mining suspended Tata Chemicals Magadi’s mining operations. The company had faced questions over meeting regulatory conditions, royalty accounting and payment, local value addition of minerals, local employment and various environmental issues.
Tata Chemicals has said it submitted the necessary information and documents to the government on these matters and complied with applicable regulations. The company said it is interested in resolving the dispute through constructive discussions with the Kenyan government via proper legal and regulatory processes.
Soda ash produced from Lake Magadi is one of Kenya’s key export products. According to government data, Kenya exported 254,779 tonnes of soda ash in the year through July 2025, worth about $56.9 million.