NAIROBI, Kenya — Former Chief Justice and Presidential hopeful David Maraga has accused the government of enforcing restrictions against foreign small-scale traders without a law specifically authorising the crackdown, arguing that President William Ruto’s directive cannot override Kenya’s constitutional and regional obligations.
Maraga, who is positioning himself for the 2027 presidential election, said the government’s enforcement campaign against immigrant small traders was based on a September announcement by Ruto rather than legislation passed by Parliament.
“This morning the Government of Kenya began enforcing a crackdown against immigrant small traders, using a law that does not exist,” Maraga said in a statement.
He argued that Ruto’s announcement that hawking and small-scale retail would be reserved for Kenyan citizens did not, by itself, create a new legal restriction.
Maraga questions legal basis of crackdown
According to Maraga, Ruto announced that hawking and small-scale retail businesses would be reserved for Kenyans, with enforcement beginning on September 7.
The President also directed Parliament to accelerate consideration of the Local Content Bill, 2025, according to Maraga.
The former Chief Justice argued that because the Bill had not been enacted, the government could not rely on it as the legal basis for enforcement.
“A directive read at State House does not amend the Constitution, and it does not release Kenya from the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol, which explicitly guarantees the free movement of persons, labor, and goods,” he said.
Maraga’s comments centre on whether existing laws and regional commitments permit restrictions of the type announced by the government, a question that could ultimately be tested through legal and parliamentary processes.
EAC obligations at centre of dispute
Maraga warned that the crackdown could undermine Kenya’s commitments within the East African Community.
He argued that Kenya could not simultaneously present itself as a leader of regional integration while adopting measures that, in his view, undermine the principles underpinning the EAC Common Market.
“We cannot profess to lead a regional Jumuiya while simultaneously subverting its foundational frameworks,” Maraga said.
He also criticised the government’s approach to Pan-Africanism, arguing that targeting fellow African nationals pursuing small-scale livelihoods was inconsistent with broader continental integration.
His remarks come as the government moves to implement measures aimed at restricting certain categories of small-scale trade to Kenyan citizens.
The administration has defended the policy as a measure intended to protect Kenyan traders from unfair competition.
Maraga blames economic problems on domestic factors
While acknowledging the difficulties facing Kenyan traders, Maraga rejected the argument that foreign small-scale traders are responsible for the economic pressures affecting local businesses.
“Kenyan traders are drowning, and that pain is real. But close every foreign-run stall tomorrow and the price of maize does not move by one shilling, because the cartel that sets it is Kenyan and it has friends in government,” he said.
He instead pointed to what he described as structural challenges affecting small businesses, including delayed government payments, rising county licence fees, expensive credit and aggressive revenue collection.
“What killed Kenyan small businesses this year is a matter of public record: pending bills the state refuses to pay, county licence fees that rise without service, credit no trader can carry, and a revenue authority that pursues a mama mboga while fortunes leave the port undeclared,” Maraga said.
His argument is that government policy should focus on improving the operating environment for all legitimate businesses rather than directing public frustration towards foreign traders.
Questions foreign workers’ impact on jobs
Maraga also challenged the government’s narrative about the role of foreign nationals in Kenya’s labour market.
He cited government figures which he said showed foreign nationals accounted for about 1.6 per cent of the workforce in foreign-invested enterprises in 2024.
“This was never where the jobs went,” he said, accusing the government of using foreigners as scapegoats for broader economic problems.
“A government that cannot give you a market will always offer you an enemy to blame. This is scapegoat policy,” he added.
The claim about the size of the foreign workforce would require verification against the underlying government data, but Maraga used the figure to argue that foreign workers and traders are not the primary cause of Kenya’s employment challenges.
Criticism of treatment of fellow Africans
Maraga further criticised what he described as a contradiction between Kenya’s labour-export policies and its treatment of foreign African nationals working in the country.
“It is unconscionable for a regime to actively export young Kenyans as low-wage laborers abroad while its leaders profiteer from private ownership of labor externalization firms, only to turn around and criminalize fellow Africans seeking a modest livelihood within our borders,” he said.
He also linked the crackdown to wider criticism of the Ruto administration’s economic record, including youth unemployment and what he described as unlawful abductions and loss of life.
Maraga said the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda had failed to deliver the improvements promised to ordinary Kenyans.
Maraga attacks government spending and debt
The former Chief Justice also criticised the government’s borrowing and expenditure, accusing the administration of accumulating large amounts of debt without delivering sufficient results.
“To saddle this nation with an astounding Sh 5 Trillion in debt over a mere four years, with no tangible, worthwhile results to show for it, and then appear to blame small scale traders from Jumuiya for the economic mess is a disingenuous move,” he said.
Maraga further alleged that Kenya loses more than Sh1 trillion annually through corruption and wastage and claimed that Ruto spent Sh33 billion, which he said was above the budgetary allocation for State House.
Those figures and claims were presented by Maraga and were not independently established in his statement.
He argued that economic accountability should focus on government expenditure and corruption rather than on foreign nationals engaged in small-scale commerce.
Warns against xenophobia
Maraga described the government’s policy as a form of xenophobia and warned that divisive political tactics could eventually be directed at Kenyan citizens themselves.
“A government that is at the forefront of propagating xenophobia will not hesitate to turn those same divisive tactics against its own citizens along ethnic, religious, or other identity lines,” he said.
He called on Kenyans to reject what he described as an attempt to divert attention from the country’s economic challenges by targeting foreign traders.
“Kenyans will not fall for this cheap diversionary and divisive tactics,” he said.
Maraga outlines alternative approach
Maraga, who has declared his interest in seeking the presidency in 2027, said his administration would respect Kenya’s constitutional and regional commitments.
“Under my leadership, we will respect our legal and regional commitments, and account for the resources of the Kenyan people,” he said.
He also called for Kenya to strengthen its domestic economic capacity while maintaining relationships with other African countries.
“We must be a country confident in our ability to solve our problems internally while looking Africa-ward for the friends we need in forging global strength,” he said.
The statement adds Maraga’s voice to growing political criticism of the government’s crackdown on foreign small-scale traders.
