Livelihoods of Tata Chemicals workers on the edge after Ruto closure directive

Tata Chemicals factory in Magadi, Kajiado West constituency Kajiado County. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Peter Oyare, aged 60, and about seven men and a lone middle-aged woman are sitting on a modified chair behind the servant quarters houses of Tata Chemicals in Kajiado County.

The shade from the houses offers a much-needed shield from the scorching sun as they engage in conversation as they sip ice-cold water in a five-liter jerrican.

As we exchange greetings, the lady extends plastic cups for us to quench our thirst, remarking that we look tired and covered with dust, having spent about four hours to arrive at Tata Chemicals, formerly Magadi Soda Company.

The environment is serene and warm and easily convinces a visitor that here exists the much-needed peace and tranquility that completes the missing puzzle in life, peace.

But for Oyare and the group, the tranquility and late afternoon breeze from nearby villages on hills is unusual after the machines that some of them used to operate during soda ash processing stopped roaring towards July 2026.

The employers just informed them that they are taking a break.

It was until August 3, 2026, that they heard President Ruto announce that he had ordered Tata Chemicals to leave the country and that another investor was warming up to take over operations.

The President directed the Mumbai-based firm to pack and leave, announcing that his administration would give the license to a new company, who will be required to establish industries that add value to the resources extracted from the area.

He accused Tata Chemicals of extracting resources from Lake Magadi and exporting them without sufficiently contributing to the local economy.

“I told them to pack up their things and leave. Let them go. These people come here, take our resources and transport them to India and other countries,” he said.

This has left over 2,000 employees of Tata Chemicals in uncertainty; some of them, like Oyare, were on short contracts, thousands of others on casual terms and others on permanent terms unsure of the next move.

Ezekiel Rapudo a mechanical engineer whose work was maintenance at the plant at Tata Chemicals factory in Magadi where he works. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

As the parents sit under the shade pondering on the next move, their young children are playing joyfully metres away, oblivious of what their future holds.

“I have been working as a foreman since 2006, and we have been serving well, but we were shocked when we heard the company has been shut down and we were not notified, indicating that our contracts have stopped,” Oyare shared

“Mine was a two-year contract and we have not received our salaries since the operations stopped towards the end of July 2026. The President ought to have communicated understandably and tell us the way forward clearly,” he added.

The father of four said many employees are living in the company premises where their children study in schools and don’t know where to start if the matter is not resolved as soon as possible.

“It is embarrassing the way the communication came from the Head of State; maybe there are those who reached out to him, but juniors like us were not aware but our plea is that our dues are settled,” he explained.

Adding that, “It has been one month now since the machines stopped roaring but it was after the announcement the company said the closure orders came from government and we are getting information but by the end of this month we may not get our salaries."

The employee said several of his colleagues who were on two-year contracts have worked for only one year now unsure what will happen to the remaining one year once a new investor takes over.

Ezekiah Otieno, another employee, says he has lived in the company since he was twelve and now an elderly man, stating that for decades it is the first time that the machines have stopped roaring, putting their livelihoods on the edge.

“I have been here since 1973 as a child and studied here before landing employment at Magadi Soda before it changed to Tata Chemicals, and I have risen to become a contractor, and what we have witnessed is shocking,” he said

“It is our wish that the matter will be resolved because for some of us and our children, this is our only home and hope, we pray that the President and the company will agree on the way forward,” said Otieno

“If a new investor comes to take over, we pray that he will retain us, because starting afresh at our age is impossible. That sad part is that we were not prepared for this and we have been unable to access our bosses since the problem started.

Peter Kuresha a maasai resident of Magadi who works as a casual labourer at Tata chemicals factory in Magadi where he works. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Among the claims in the public domain are approximately Sh17.4 billion in unpaid rates to Kajiado County and claims by President Ruto that the company has done little to support the neighbouring community yet it has been running operations for a century.

However, a tour of the company and interaction with employees and the community paint a bittersweet relationship.

The company's design accommodates its staff from casual labourers to the senior management in one vast compound, with the main dredging machine sitting at the far end of the expansive Lake Magadi.

Here there are two schools where children of the staff study, a hospital, a country club, a mosque, a borehole serving employees and the neighbouring community and other social amenities that make Tata Chemicals independent.

“For one month now, the hospital has only been serving outpatients after the company stopped operating, it is a blow for us who have young children who frequently need medical attention, since the distance from here to Kajiado is far,” Rebbeca Naanyu, who lives around the company, shared

The facility has also been serving Tata Chemicals staff, who said they were contributing a certain amount from their salaries and another percentage from the employer to make the services affordable and available around the clock.

“My two children and in grade nine and four at Magadi school within the company and I don’t know where I will take them if my contract will be terminated once another investor,” Ken Kagwe shared

“If the government saw the company has never played enough role for the community, then we ought to have been involved, and public participation be conducted so that we cane air our views; announcing the closure on the roadside was unwise and has left us in limbo,” he added

Traders in the market space within the company are equally worried; since the machines stopped, their businesses are no longer vibrant, and their sales have gone down.

“My milk business is about to collapse; I don’t know what next because the majority of my customers were casual workers who used to buy milk after work, but they stopped coming when the company suspended its operation,” shared Alice Lempoo, a trader

The trader argues that the area is grappling with harsh climatic conditions, and that Tata has been their only hope for decades and keeping it dormant or shutting it altogether will be a big blow, she hopes the impasse will be resolved.

These sentiments are not shared by some members who accuse the company of not doing enough for the neighbouring community, and casual workers citing low wages.

“We as the community feel that the company has not done enough; it ought to have built the main road from Tata to Ngurumani area, which is the source of Lake Magadi, before they used to supply us with water using train but when it developed mechanical problems, they stopped,” Kuresha claimed

Adding, “At some point the company used to supply water using a water bowser; that one also stopped and when the county stepped in, the management were not willing to allow the bowser to fetch water from their borehole and supply to the nearby homes,” he added

The suspension of operations and subsequent directive by President Ruto that Tata Chemicals ought to pack and go has attracted uproar among Kenyans, including the political class, and has also received attention from leading media outlets in Mumbai.

Speaking to News18, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said Ruto’s directive that Tata Chemicals ought to leave is against the law since no public participation was conducted.

“The company has been very kind to the community. They provide water, they provide schools, they provide hospitals, they provide a bank. Their lives revolve around Tata Chemicals,” Gachagua said

Adding, “My party, the DCP, will engage the local people so that they can move to court for a judicial review. That this arbitrary action by the president that is not based on any law and can be put aside and these people can resume their lives.”

Wiper Patriotic Front (WPF party leader Kalonzo Musyoka said Ruto’s move preempted the judgment of a court slated for next month, October 23, between the company and the Ministry of Mining over the Ministry’s decision to suspend the company.