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.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.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.His remarks come amid a growing political dispute over the future of Tata Chemicals Magadi, one of Kenya’s oldest large-scale industrial operations.The government suspended the company’s mining operations on July 28 following what the Mining Ministry described as unresolved regulatory concerns, including mineral beneficiation and value addition, royalty reconciliation, export reporting, community development agreements, employment and skills transfer, local procurement and environmental compliance.Ruto subsequently ordered the company to leave Kenya and said a replacement investor would have to meet stricter local manufacturing requirements.The President has framed the decision as part of a wider economic strategy to ensure Kenyans receive greater benefits from the country’s natural resources.“Kenya is an independent country,” Ruto said, insisting that Africa’s economic relationship with foreign investors must shift from extraction towards investment and shared value creation.“Africa is not going to continue with the relationship where we are subservient to others,” he said. “That relationship is going to be a relationship of equals and sovereign equality.”Ruto said Kenya should no longer accept an economic model based on exporting raw materials while importing finished products.“The relationship is no longer going to be about exploitation; it is no longer going to be about extraction; it is not going to be about raw materials; it is going to be about investment in our resources so that we can benefit equally,” he said.The President’s position has, however, drawn criticism from Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, who warned that the government’s handling of the dispute could damage Kenya’s reputation among investors.Sifuna argued that investors need predictable legal and regulatory mechanisms for resolving disputes rather than abrupt executive action.“The ‘Mambo Matatu, pack and go’ approach where the President can just shut down your business is very bad for investment and consequently, job creation,” Sifuna said.He said the issue was not whether the government had the right to regulate businesses, but whether disputes were handled through established legal processes.“It is why we in Linda Mwananchi insist on a return to the Rule of Law. That’s our Plan!” Sifuna said.The competing positions have turned the Magadi dispute into a wider debate over the balance between resource nationalism, local industrialisation and investor protection.Tata Chemicals has maintained that it complied with government requirements, saying in August that it had submitted information, reports and documentation requested by the Mining Ministry and was awaiting further direction.The company has also said the prolonged suspension has created uncertainty for its employees, communities and business partners.Tata Chemicals Magadi, formerly Magadi Soda Company, has operated at Lake Magadi since 1911 and became part of Tata Chemicals in 2005. It extracts trona and processes it into natural soda ash, a key raw material used in glass manufacturing, detergents, chemicals and water treatment.The company has been a major Kenyan exporter, with annual shipments reported at more than 350,000 tonnes to markets including Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East.The High Court is scheduled to hear on November 18 a petition challenging the possible resumption of mining operations at Lake Magadi.