Nine years, then a turn

Ndaikech Ali drove a tuk-tuk around Nairobi for nine years and says traffic was his biggest worry. Last week that changed.

“Now they have turned against us”

A dog set loose

Ali says the threats now come from every direction, even from children, and he has joined the queue at the Burundian embassy for papers to go home.

“It's a like a dog has been set loose upon us. We have been bitten.”

Four days to pack up

On 3 September, President William Ruto told traders at State House that foreign nationals running small businesses had until 7 September to close. Those jobs, he said, belong to Kenyans.

A bill behind the speech

Ruto was pointing at legislation before parliament that would bar foreign nationals from petty trade and require certain materials to be sourced locally.

Stranded at the border

Burundians and others rushed for crossing points within days. Reports say a number got stuck there with their belongings and nowhere to go.

Families split in two

Prosper, in Kenya since 2019, has a child with a Kenyan woman and now faces leaving them behind. He called the announcement painful.

“When I go, I'm forced to leave my family... and I love my family”

Five children, no wage

In Nairobi's Majengo, Grace Wamaitha's Burundian husband left the day after the directive. She has taken on laundry work to feed their five kids.

“Now he's gone, who will help me pay school fees?”

Who the rules catch

Regional migrants cut hair, build sites, ride boda bodas and hawk food and clothes. East African Community rules allow free movement, but work and long stays need permits.

Shutters down as a precaution

Filmon Eyob, an Eritrean community coordinator in Nairobi, says some Eritreans and Ethiopians closed their shops and stayed home, fearing the order becomes cover for harassment.

A diplomatic row opens

Burundi's foreign minister warned that hate speech against Burundi could rebound on Kenyans abroad. Kenyan official Korir Sing'Oei went to the embassy to apologise and promise protection.

The walk-back

The government now offers a 90-day window for undocumented traders to register, and says anyone in that process is presumed to be in Kenya legally.

Tata told to go

A day after the trader order, Ruto told India's Tata Chemicals to leave, saying its Lake Magadi soda ash operation, running under a 1911 colonial arrangement, gave too little back to the Maasai in Kajiado.

The maths doesn't add up

Economist Odhiambo Ramogi notes Kenya exported $56m to Burundi last year and asks why a hawker earning $200 a month is the threat. Ruto faces re-election next year.

“Locking out aliens simply means you don't want a competitive economy”