Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Sunday, September 13, Lenku accused the company of being involved in what he described as a historical land injustice in Magadi.
The governor claimed that Tata Chemicals owes the Kajiado County Government KSh13 billion in unpaid land rates, arguing that the company should settle the outstanding amount before its operations are reopened.
“We have many concerns about it. We in the county government are supposed to get our land rates. The company is the only one in the country that does not pay land rates. They owe the county government KSh13 billion,” Lenku stated.
Apart from the alleged unpaid land rates, the governor is also demanding the return of portions of land currently occupied by the company to local residents.
Lenku claimed that Tata Chemicals controls more than 200,000 acres of land in the area but uses only approximately 11,000 acres for salt production.
He argued that the unused land should be returned to the local community, which relies on the area for grazing.
“Magadi is occupying huge grazing land for our community. The salt is only 11,000 acres, yet they occupy over 200,000 acres of land,” he added.
The county government is further pushing for improved terms for residents and greater community benefit-sharing from companies operating in the area.
The demands come shortly after Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho formed a high-level technical committee to investigate compliance concerns surrounding Tata Chemicals Magadi following the suspension of its operations at Lake Magadi.
The committee is expected to examine several outstanding matters before the company can resume operations, including mineral beneficiation, local value addition, community benefits, royalty payments and unresolved land issues.
President William Ruto had earlier ordered the suspension of Tata Chemicals' operations in the area after nearly a century of activity, arguing that the company had failed to sufficiently improve the living standards of the local community.
The President has also stated that Lake Magadi should be opened to competitive investors capable of establishing processing industries in Kenya instead of exporting raw materials extracted from the area.
The dispute has therefore placed Tata Chemicals' future operations at Magadi under renewed scrutiny, with both the national and county governments pushing for changes before mining activities can resume.
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