Tension mounts as Ruto’s crackdown on foreign traders takes effect

Queues formed outside Burundi’s embassy in Nairobi as President William Ruto’s directive targeting foreign-run small businesses took effect. Many of those waiting reportedly sought travel documents and assistance to return to Burundi.

At Nairobi’s Country Bus Station, images shared on social media showed anxious foreign nationals looking for limited buses to neighbouring countries. Some buses carried labels for Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cybercafés in the central business district also saw more foreigners seeking to update or process travel documents, according to observations by The Standard.

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All those traders and hawkers doing these small businesses should close down, and if they don’t do that,

The crackdown has unsettled foreign nationals working in informal markets. Images circulating online appeared to show some foreigners being harassed while selling coffee and mandazi in Nairobi’s Gikomba area. Ruto said small-scale trading should be reserved for Kenyans, while distinguishing those traders from foreign investors.

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We have not built investor confidence so that hawkers can come to Kenya. The investor confidence we have built is for investors to come to Kenya, not hawkers and traders. People should not confuse us.

“All those traders and hawkers doing these small businesses should close down, and if they don’t do that,” Ruto said. He added that Kenya’s investor confidence was intended to attract investors, “not hawkers and traders.”

The policy has raised questions about whether authorities are applying the rules uniformly to foreigners from Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, whose citizens have rights under the East African Community Common Market framework, subject to applicable laws. Burundi’s Foreign Minister Édouard Bizimana warned that continued hate speech could damage relations. “Kenyans live peacefully in Burundi. But if this hate speech against Burundi continues, things will certainly change. Kenya’s government is responsible for the lives of Burundians living in Kenya,” he wrote on X.

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Kenyans live peacefully in Burundi. But if this hate speech against Burundi continues, things will certainly change. Kenya’s government is responsible for the lives of Burundians living in Kenya.