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‘Are we slaves?’ Why Kenya wants Tata Chemicals to ‘pack and go’ after 100 years
The Kenyan government has raised regulatory concerns against Tata Chemicals. These include alleged unpaid royalties and other obligations.
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After about a century of mining rights, Tata Chemicals is being told to leave Kenya. The Indian company took soda ash out of the country without doing enough to turn the resource into finished products locally, President William Ruto said Thursday. Tata Chemicals rejected the suggestions in a statement.
Ruto said Kenya would look for new investors to take over the operations and asked a unit of the Mumbai-based company “to pack and go”.
“Tata has held mining rights for 100 years yet it has not built anything in Kajiado,” Ruto said during a visit to Magadi in southern Kenya. “They take our resource to India and other places.” “Come what may, because they have been unable able to do what is required, I have told them to pack and go,” Ruto said.
He said the government planned to bring in two new companies. One would process the mineral into glass and another would make chemicals in Kajiado, Bloomberg reported.
“We have said we will bring a new company and ... they should put a big glass company here in Kajiado. And another company to make chemicals here in Kajiado. Are we slaves to other people?” Ruto said.
Why is Kenya unhappy with Tata?
Kenya says it is a lack of local processing and value addition. Kenya produces natural soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate. But Ruto says Tata has mainly been exporting the mineral rather than processing it in Kenya.
“Those who we will license to extract the resource must build a huge processing facility here to produce glass,” Kajiado governor Joseph Ole Lenku told supporters at a rally, as per a Bloomberg report. “They should build a big factory to produce chemicals here.”
Lenku also said the mining rights expired in 2023. Kenya has been producing soda ash since 1911. Tata Chemicals bought the Magadi operation from Brunner Mond Ltd. in 2005.
Tata Chemicals' response
Tata Chemicals has rejected the suggestion that it is not complying with regulations. The company said it is “fully compliant with all requisite regulations and continues to work with all authorities and agencies to uphold the highest standards of compliance.”
In another statement, Tata said its Kenyan unit provided a “comprehensive” response to the issues raised by the ministry and was waiting for the government to review its submissions.
“TCML has provided a comprehensive response to the matters raised by the Ministry, including information regarding its compliance with applicable regulatory requirements,” Tata Chemicals said. “We await the ministry’s review of our submissions and its further direction.”
The company added that it remains “committed to constructive engagement through the appropriate legal and regulatory channels to resolve the outstanding matters.”
Tata Chemicals shares under pressure
Tata Chemicals shares fell 2.7% to ₹624.85 on the BSE on Friday after Ruto ordered the company to stop operations in the country.
Tata Chemicals shares have remained under pressure, falling around 6% in the past month, 12.5% in three months, 11% in six months and 33% over the past year, as per a Mint report.
The stock touched a 52-week high of ₹1,026 in September last year and a 52-week low of ₹581.30 in March 2026.
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Operations were already suspended
Five weeks ago, Kenya’s mining ministry ordered Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd. to suspend operations. The ministry cited unpaid royalties and other regulatory issues.
Mining cabinet secretary Hassan Joho said Tata’s Kenyan unit must provide documents showing that it met its statutory obligations and settled outstanding liabilities before it could resume production.
The government also raised several other concerns.
These included failure to implement value-addition and skills-transfer plans, inadequate employment opportunities for Kenyan citizens, export-reporting problems, shortcomings in local procurement and environmental-compliance issues.
What soda ash is used for
Soda ash is widely used in industry. The compound is used to make glass and cleaning products. It is also used in batteries for electric vehicles.
Kenya is the world’s fourth-largest producer of natural soda ash, according to the US Geological Survey. The country accounts for about 1% of global production. Lake Magadi in Kajiado County is the centre of Kenya’s soda-ash industry. Tata’s unit has extracted minerals there for decades, as per Reuters.
