NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 5-President William Ruto has escalated his defence of the government’s decision to end Tata Chemicals Magadi’s longstanding arrangement at Lake Magadi, accusing critics of defending an “exploitative” resource deal and insisting Kenya must stop exporting raw materials without creating jobs and industries locally.

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Ruto, speaking in Kajiado on Saturday, directly attacked the opposition-linked Linda Mwananchi movement, which has criticised the government’s handling of the Tata Chemicals dispute and warned that the decision could undermine investor confidence.

The President said the existing Magadi arrangement had deprived Kajiado and Kenya of the full economic value of their natural resources, arguing that the country could no longer sustain contracts that allow minerals to be extracted locally and processed abroad.

“The challenges we have in Magadi—the contract that was there, the exploitative, extractive contract that has been there for 100 years cannot continue anymore,” Ruto said.

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He said the government would open the resource to multiple investors while imposing tougher conditions requiring processing and manufacturing to take place in Kenya.

“Value addition of our minerals and the resources in Magadi is not going to be done abroad. Value addition is going to be done here in Kenya,” he said.

Ruto said prospective investors would be required to establish a glass factory and a chemical factory in Kenya, creating jobs and expanding the local industrial base.

“A glass factory will be built here in Kenya. A chemical factory will be built here in Kenya to hire a Kenyan workforce and use Kenyan resources, so that we can grow wealth and create value from the products that are available and the resources that are here in the Republic of Kenya,” he said.

The President also rejected arguments from the Linda Mwananchi camp that the government should retain the existing arrangement in the name of the rule of law.

“There is no rule of law that sustains extractive, exploitative contracts that undermine the interest of the nation or the interest of the people of Kenya or the interest of the people of Kajiado,” Ruto said.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya