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President Dr William Samoei Arap Ruto is doing everything possible to counter the United Opposition, who have only one goal in common, ensure he goes home in the forthcoming general elections to be held in August next year.
President Ruto has made a major announcement just hours after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua Vowed to support former Orange Democratic Movement Party Secretary General Senator Edwin Sifuna’s presidential bid. He said the following.
President William Ruto has declared that Kenya will immediately cease the export of raw, unprocessed minerals, marking a major policy pivot aimed at enforcing domestic value addition.
Speaking during public engagements in Kajiado and Samburu counties, the Head of State emphasized that the country must transition away from an extractive economic model that enriches foreign entities while leaving minimal capital and opportunities at home.
The executive directive mandates that all mineral wealth—including soda ash, gold, titanium, graphite, iron ore, and limestone—must undergo processing within Kenya before export.
The administration plans to leverage this strategy to establish local processing plants, chemical industries, and manufacturing hubs, thereby expanding the country’s industrial footprint and creating thousands of jobs for young Kenyans.
President Ruto highlighted that exporting raw commodities forces the nation to forgo massive revenues, retaining only a tiny fraction of the total commercial value generated along the global supply chain.
To support the structural transition, the government is inviting domestic and international investors to partner in building local refining infrastructure.
Among the highlighted initiatives is a planned collaboration with industrial partners to construct specialized gold refineries and a major petrochemical complex in Lamu.
The declaration coincides with heightened regulatory scrutiny on multinational mining operations.
President Ruto defended recent government enforcement actions against long-standing foreign operators in the mineral sector, insisting that corporate entities operating within Kenya must align with national industrialization goals rather than merely shipping out raw resources.
While the ban signals a bolder stance on resource sovereignty, it also presents immediate economic tests, requiring swift capital investment and infrastructure development to ensure domestic processing capacity keeps pace with mining output.
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