Nairobi — President William Ruto has ordered Tata Chemicals to leave Kenya, accusing the Indian-owned company of extracting Kajiado's mineral wealth for more than a century without doing enough to create jobs, establish factories or add value locally.
Ruto said the government would seek a new investor for the Lake Magadi resource, but would attach strict conditions requiring the company to establish manufacturing plants in Kajiado rather than simply extract and export raw materials.
Speaking in Kajiado on Thursday, Ruto said Tata had operated at Lake Magadi for about 100 years without delivering the kind of local industrial development he believes the county and the country should derive from its natural resources.
"I told the people of Kajiado County that we have Lake Magadi here. We have a big company and a major resource that can transform Kajiado County and our nation, Kenya," Ruto said.
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"That Tata company has had the contract for 100 years, yet it has not built anything in Kajiado. It has not established a factory here, and it has not employed our people. The other day, I told them to pack their bags and leave."
The President accused the company of taking resources extracted from Lake Magadi to India and other markets without generating sufficient economic benefits for the local population.
"Do we understand each other or not? These people should leave, my friends. They come here, take our wealth and resources, and ship them to India and elsewhere," he said.
Ruto said any company brought in to replace Tata would be required to process the resources locally and establish industries capable of creating employment and expanding the county's manufacturing base.
"We have said that we will bring in a new company, but the conditions for that company will be clear: it must establish a large factory to manufacture glass here in Kajiado County and another facility to manufacture chemicals here," he said.
Ruto framed the dispute as part of a wider question of whether Kenya is getting sufficient value from its natural resources, asking residents whether the country should continue allowing foreign firms to extract resources without building significant industries around them.
"Are we the servants of other people? Should we not build Kajiado ourselves?" he asked.
"How else will Kajiado be developed? Will it not be built using the resources that are found here?"
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The President's remarks come as Tata Chemicals Magadi's mining operations remain suspended following a government directive over compliance and licensing concerns.
Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho said in July that the Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs had suspended the company's operations after years of unsuccessful attempts to engage the firm over compliance issues.
The company's mining operations were suspended from July 28, 2026.
Tata Chemicals Magadi, formerly known as Magadi Soda Company, has operated at Lake Magadi since 1911 and became part of Tata Chemicals in 2005.
The company extracts trona from the lake and processes it into natural soda ash, or sodium carbonate, a key ingredient in the manufacture of glass, detergents and chemicals and in water treatment.
The company has been one of Kenya's major exporters, with annual shipments reported at more than 350,000 tonnes to markets including Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East.
Tata Chemicals Limited, part of the wider Tata Group, has operations in Kenya, India, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The President said the proposed replacement arrangement would require investors to manufacture products such as glass and chemicals in Kajiado, potentially shifting the focus from exporting soda ash to developing a larger local industrial value chain.
"I am asking you, the people of Kajiado: Do you want the Tata people to continue troubling us by taking away our wealth while giving us nothing in return?" Ruto said.
The High Court is scheduled to hear on November 18 a petition challenging the possible resumption of mining operations at Lake Magadi.
