Kenya has long been a destination for people from across East Africa looking for business opportunities, employment and a better life. In fact, ordinary Kenyans have always taken pride in hosting those in difficulty and distress.
If you speak to any Somali, Congolese, or South Sudanese citizens, among others, especially those who have run away from strife, Kenya has always been their peaceful haven.
It’s a place that has
offered refuge from harm and where some have even studied, lived and used as a
relocation path to the Western world. Kenya is where they have built a
meaningful life for themselves and their generations to come.
But President William Ruto’s recent casual directive targeting foreigners engaged in small-scale businesses has changed the mood, particularly among Burundians living and trading in Kenya.
What the President perhaps presented as an effort to protect opportunities for Kenyan citizens has created anxiety among some Burundian communities in Kenya, typically those not registered.
The sight of Burundians seeking assistance from their embassy and considering a return home brings jitters evocative of the xenophobia in South Africa. When did our neighbours become targets of hate while they are fleeing from economic and political pressures in their own country?
There are definitely some legitimate reasons for Kenya to regulate foreign participation in small businesses. Kenyan traders face taxes, licence fees and county charges among other costs.
When foreigners operate without the required documentation or undercut local traders by avoiding these obligations, Kenyan businesswomen and men can feel and be disadvantaged.
Restricting certain small-scale activities to citizens might therefore be a move to create more opportunities for unemployed young Kenyans and small entrepreneurs.
There is also an argument that foreign nationals should respect Kenya's immigration, refugee integration and business regulations. Being a member of the East African Community does not mean that every individual is automatically exempt from national laws. We have to accept this bitter truth.
However! there is another side to the debate.
Burundians living in Kenya, yes, are competitors in the small business sector. But they are also consumers, workers, entrepreneurs and members of communities.
Their businesses provide goods and services, employ people and contribute to local economies. Some have lived in Kenya for more years that some of our younger citizens and have built relationships with Kenyan customers, landlords and neighbours.
There is, however, a thin line when it comes to misinterpretation, as the danger arises when a policy aimed at undocumented traders is interpreted as a rejection of foreigners generally. What should happen, ideally, is that their nationality should not become the basis for punishment.
A Burundian or any other national operating a legitimate registered business should not be a victim of this directive. Those undocumented should also not face the wrath of politically charged people in the streets.
There is also a regional dimension. Kenya and Burundi are neighbours within the wider EAC. Thousands of Kenyans live, work and do business outside the country.
If Kenya becomes hostile to foreign workers and traders, Kenyan citizens could also at some point face similar attitudes elsewhere in the region. In fact, sooner or later we might hear stories of Kenyans chased from the neighbouring countries or even more distant African countries.
Kenya has a right to protect its citizens and regulate its economy. But our leaders need to remember that enforcement must be fair, orderly and humane.
This can be through established clear rules, which can be enforced clearly and fairly among other foreign communities as well thus creating legitimate economic competition and shunning illegality.
In light of this, at the very least, it is a welcome relief that Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei recently issued a diplomatic apology to Burundians for the harassment they suffered.
But is this enough? How can we sustain the friendship we have with Burundi, a country that has over the years faced economic struggles?
Kenya can indeed put Kenyans first through fair policies and strategies without turning its neighbours like Burundi into enemies, putting the country into diplomatic tension and its people within and outside in a harm’s way.
