Kenya orders Tata Chemicals to exit country, president says firm failed to benefit local population

Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday said that he has ordered India’s Tata Chemicals to stop operations in the country, saying that its presence had failed to benefit his country, the BBC reported.

Ruto said that the Indian company had been exporting soda ash instead of processing the mineral locally to produce glass and chemicals. Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, is a chemical that is widely used across industries, especially in glass production.

The Kenyan president made the remarks during a visit to Magadi in Kajiado county, where Tata Chemicals operates a soda ash plant. He said that the company had held a contract for about 100 years but had done little to develop local industries.

“I told them the other day to pack up and leave,” BBC quoted Ruto as saying in Swahili. “They have not built anything in Kajiado, they have not built any factory in Kajiado.”

Tata Chemicals said that it respected the authority of the Kenyan government and remained committed to “constructive engagement through the appropriate legal and regulatory channels to resolve the outstanding matters”, Reuters reported.

The company added that its "priority continues to be the well-being of our employees, the Magadi community, ⁠our ​stakeholders in Kenya and the continued economic ​development of Kenya". It added that it has provided...

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