Tata Chemicals owes Kajiado Ksh.13 billion in land rates; Governor Lenku claims

Soda Ash manufacturer Tata Chemicals has continued to sustain an onslaught from the government of Kenya over allegations of unlawful operations.

President William Ruto, on September 3, ordered the company, which conducts mining operations in the Magadi area, Kajiado County, to ‘pack and leave’ Kenya. This was after accusing the company of unlawful operations and failure to benefit the local community.

Now, Kajiado governor Joseph Ole Lenku claims that the company has failed to pay the county government land rates for years.

This, he said on Citizen TV’s Sunday Live, has accrued to about Ksh.13 billion.

“They owe the county government Ksh.13 billion as we talk now. 13 billion! 13 billion strong. We went to court, and the court confirmed that the county government has a right to rent the land there,” said Lenku.

According to the governor, while the company operates on the vast lake Magadi, it has failed to pay rightful dues to the county government.

“The community ideally should have had some level of skills development, knowledge transfer, workforce development, building a technical institution around it, you know, developing water infrastructure. They never did that. 100 percent no. Yeah. That is why it is the poorest community there,” said the governor.

He further argued that it was not fair for Tata Chemicals to operate on the vast land for themselves, yet other investors could conduct mining operations in the area.

“As the President clearly said, not right for one company to occupy such massive land, take the whole land for themselves, and yet some research also shows that many companies can do mining there,” he said.

The governor also claimed that attempts to have Tata Chemicals to pay its dues have previously failed to bear fruits as the company had ‘protection.’

“I have been fighting this single-handedly. In 2019, we stormed the Magadi Tata Chemicals industry with 5,000 strong community members. The national government then, using the police, harassed us, removed the county commissioner, and deployed all police officers who were part of that, just to say that Magadi was untouchable. For 100 years plus, Magadi has been untouchable,” he said.

The governor also argued that the Soda Ash manufacturer has failed to support local communities, but instead frustrated them.

After ordering the closure of Tata chemicals, President Ruto warned that the government will no longer export raw materials and all minerals shall be locally processed.

He said that the government will explore the option of processing all minerals — gold, limestone, iron ore, graphite, titanium, soda ash — noting that it will provide employment opportunities for many and increase capital value for the nation.

"Going into the future, our position as the government. Whether we are talking about Magadi Soda or oil or all our minerals, we have taken the decision that we will no longer export raw materials. We are going to process all minerals available in Kenya," he said.

Following the standoff, Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho has established a committee to resolve outstanding compliance issues surrounding the suspended operations of Tata Chemicals.

The committee follows a meeting between Joho and executives of the soda ash manufacturer last week