Sh9 billion business reaches its centenary

It is an industry with an annual income of Sh9 billion and Kajiado’s major earner.

Magadi Soda, as it has been known by all for 100 years, recently changed its name to… Tata Chemical Magadi Company Limited.

That was in January 2006 when Indian based Tata Chemicals bought the UK parent firm that became the first limited liability company in Kenya, in 1911.

“We will be celebrating our centenary of continuous existence in the country later this year,” said Michael Odera, the CEO.

This, courtesy of Lake Magadi, an alkaline water mass which the Europeans arriving in East Africa quickly found they could mine, taking the soda ash through natural evaporation caused by heat from the sun.

When approaching the lake, 120 kilometres from Nairobi, visitors can see the evaporation actually taking place during the day.

When the company started mining soda, it employed Kenyans from all corners of the country. Some of the workers became fathers of prominent Kenyans in Magadi.

One of them, Reuben Oyondi, who came from Butere 560 kilometres away, became the father of veteran politician Martin Joseph Shikuku who was born there on Christmas Day in 1932.

Soda ash, used in making glass and detergents is sold locally to Kenya Breweries subsidiary Central Glassware and the Unilever group, and the form exports it to South East Asia, India, the Middle East and throughout Africa.

Mr Odera, the CEO, said the company mined 360 tonnes each of standard and premium soda ash annually, earning Sh9 billion.

The company ploughs back some of the profits to benefit the local Maasai community.

A pipeline from the Ngurumani Hills supplies them with water, while a hospital caters for the community, with some patients coming across the border from Tanzania.

Patterson Memorial Secondary school, supported by the firm while mixed focuses on girls, whom the community still regards as belonging to the household and bound to being married off early.

A railway line, maintained up to Konza on the Mombasa-Nairobi line is operated by the company. The firm’s 99-year lease was expected to end this year.

However, the company negotiated for a renewal to qualify for loans from the European Development Bank and International Finance Corporation.

The new deal ends in 2053. This was fiercely opposed by some in the local community who wanted the land to revert to the Maasai.