Kenya’s War on Foreign Traders Betrays the East African Dream

By Benedict Were

There is something deeply troubling about the sight of Burundians lining up outside their embassy in Nairobi with bags and suitcases amid uncertainty over whether Kenya will remain home.

I am disturbed by the images from the immigration story, which raise a fundamental question about what kind of country Kenya wants to be and whether our commitment to East African integration means anything when economic competition becomes politically inconvenient.

As a country, I agree that we have every right to regulate our economy and enforce our immigration laws.

Foreign nationals who work or operate businesses in Kenya must comply with the law, just as Kenyans working elsewhere in the region must respect the laws of their host countries.

There is nothing unreasonable about requiring permits, distinguishing between lawful and unlawful business activity, or protecting sectors reserved for citizens.

However, legitimate regulation becomes unreasonable when it turns into collective punishment, particularly when the consequences include fear, harassment, violence and the forced departure of people who have lived among us for years.

Government Stance Sparks Anxiety Among Burundians

For centuries, our neighbours have lived among us, but they became a punching bag for our economic miscalculations immediately after the government’s recent stance on foreign participation in small-scale businesses.

Following those pronouncements, Burundians in Kenya appear to have interpreted the message as a warning that their presence was no longer welcome.

The subsequent clarifications from the offices of Foreign Affairs and the Government Spokesperson, calling on undocumented East Africans to obtain documentation and regularise their status, are important. However, they came a little too late to completely undo the anxiety that has already taken hold.

Political statements carry consequences beyond their literal wording, particularly when they come from the Head of State.

For that reason, the government cannot simply dismiss such fear as a misunderstanding. When a community turns to its embassy for travel documents because it feels uncertain about its future, that should prompt reflection rather than defensiveness.

It is possible that not everyone seeking documents intends to leave permanently, and it would be premature to describe the situation as a mass exodus.

Even so, the fact that people are contemplating departure tells us something about how they have received the message.

Also Read: Trade CS Clarifies Work Visa Rules for Foreigners as Crackdown Takes Effect

Burundians Caught in Economic Uncertainty

More disturbing are the reports of Burundians facing threats or attacks from members of the public. We cannot justify such treatment as economic policy.

Although the state may enforce immigration law, citizens cannot take enforcement into their own hands.

A foreign national who lacks the necessary documentation may have an immigration problem, but that does not make him a legitimate target for assault, intimidation or humiliation.

Let us not turn into another South African story. Once government rhetoric creates the impression that a particular nationality causes citizens’ economic frustrations, the distinction between lawful enforcement and public hostility can become dangerously blurred.

Kenya’s Economic Problems Run Deeper Than Foreign Competition

Against this backdrop, Kenya should be careful about blaming foreign traders for the difficulties facing Kenyan businesses.

Our small enterprises are struggling, but Burundians did not create the high cost of credit, the tax burden, expensive energy, weak purchasing power or the structural barriers that make it difficult to start and sustain a business in Kenya.

These domestic economic challenges require domestic solutions. Removing a foreign competitor may provide temporary relief to some traders, but it will not explain why Kenyan businesses struggle to compete in the first place.

Instead, a serious economic strategy would make Kenyan entrepreneurs more competitive through affordable financing, better infrastructure, predictable taxation, skills development, technology and access to markets.

The government should address unfair competition where it exists and enforce labour and immigration laws where traders breach them. What it should not do is use nationality as a substitute for evidence of wrongdoing.

Photo of Burundians captured awaiting to board buses back to their country at the bus station in Nairobi on September 7, 2026. PHOTO/Screen grab

Regional Integration Must Allow Fair Competition

At the same time, trying to shield Kenyan businesses from competition creates a basic contradiction while the country promotes regional integration.

Kenya has spent decades supporting the East African Community and its ambition of creating a common market where people, labour, goods, services and capital can move more freely.

Kenyan companies have expanded across the region, Kenyan professionals work in neighbouring countries, and our traders depend on regional markets.

We cannot reasonably expect East Africans to welcome Kenyan investment and labour while becoming hostile when citizens of those same countries seek opportunities here.

We must therefore accept that integration produces competition. That is not a flaw in the East African project; it is part of its purpose. A Burundian trader competing with a Kenyan trader does not necessarily undermine Kenya.

In a properly regulated common market, both should compete within the rules, and the better business should win customers. Where a foreign trader breaks the law, the law should take its course.

But when the complaint is simply that the trader is foreign, the issue is no longer regulation; it borders on exclusion.

Many of our Burundi brothers have lived in Kenya for years. They have raised families, educated children, paid rent, employed Kenyans and become part of the communities and economies around them.

Suddenly making them feel unwelcome because of political concerns over foreign traders is not only harsh; it also undermines the trust upon which migration, trade and regional integration depend.

Also Read: Panic and Fear Grip Foreigners Ahead of Crackdown on Small Businesses

Kenya Risks Setting a Dangerous Precedent

Beyond the immediate situation, Kenya must consider the precedent it is setting for its own citizens.

Thousands of Kenyans live and work across East Africa and benefit from the same regional openness that we are now questioning at home.

If countries respond to economic frustrations by blaming foreigners and restricting their participation, Kenyan workers and entrepreneurs could eventually face similar treatment elsewhere.

Ultimately, the treatment of Burundians is a test of Kenya’s regional leadership. Kenya cannot champion open borders and East African integration when convenient, then retreat into economic nationalism when competition becomes uncomfortable.

The government can enforce immigration and business laws without encouraging xenophobia or treating an entire nationality as suspect.

Instead, Kenya should strengthen its citizens by making them more competitive, not by driving away their neighbours.

If economic hardship makes East Africans afraid of Kenya, then we weaken the very regional community we claim to champion.

We invited them into the promise of a more integrated East Africa. We should not now make them pay for the failures of our own economy.

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Photo of Trade, Investments and Industry Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui during a bilateral meeting with Somalia’s Minister of Commerce and Industry in Addis Ababa on September 3, 2026. PHOTO/Kinyanjui