Kenyan President William Ruto ordered the ousting of Tata Chemicals Ltd. and is looking for fresh investors to take over its century-old mining rights for minerals that are processed into soda ash.
The president said he asked a unit of the Mumbai-based company “to pack and go” because it has been exporting soda ash instead of processing the mineral locally to make glass and chemicals.
“Tata has held mining rights for 100 years yet it has not built anything in Kajiado,” Ruto said of the county that’s home to Lake Magadi, where the Asian company has extracted minerals used to produce soda ash for two decades. “They take our resource to India and other places.”
Ruto made the remarks five weeks after the Mining Ministry directed Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd. to suspend operations, citing its failure to make royalty payments and meet other regulatory requirements.
“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 in an emailed response to questions. “We await the Ministry’s review of our submissions and its further direction.”
The company also said it remains “committed to constructive engagement through the appropriate legal and regulatory channels to resolve the outstanding matters.”
Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku said the mining rights expired in 2023. Kenya has produced the resource since 1911 and Tata bought the operation from Brunner Mond Ltd. in 2005.
“Those who we will license to extract the resource must build a huge processing facility here to produce glass,” Lenku told supporters at a rally. “They should build a big factory to produce chemicals here.”
Kenya is the world’s No. 4 producer of natural soda ash, accounting for 1% of global production, according to the US Geological Survey. Also known as sodium carbonate, the compound is used in manufacturing of cleaning products and batteries for electric vehicles.
“Come what may, because they have been unable able to do what is required, I have told them to pack and go,” Ruto said.
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