According to Senior Presidential Advisor Makau Mutua, shutting down exploitative foreign-run businesses in Kenya is the only way to stop racism.
These remarks from Mutua are in response to a recent incident in Eldoret, where a Chinese citizen was filmed attacking a Kenyan employee at a factory.
In a post on X on Monday, November 17, 2025, the experienced lawyer and academic also suggested that any foreign employees of these companies who misbehave should be sent back to their home countries.
Eliminating racism
”The most direct course of action against foreign-owned companies where Kenyan workers are mistreated by foreign staff is to close the company and deport every foreign employee. There is no other effective solution to the abhorrent, cruel, and barbaric abuse that I witnessed on the video. This is not an isolated incident,” Mutua stated.
On Sunday, November 16, 2027, Francis Atwoli, who is the Secretary General of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU), voiced his disapproval of the incident, urging the Ministry of Interior, led by Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, to deport the Chinese citizen filmed physically abusing a Kenyan worker.
In a letter to Kipchumba Murkomen, dated November 15, 2025, Atwoli conveyed profound worry regarding the mistreatment of Kenyan workers by foreign investors.
COTU’s message to Murkomen
“The Central Organization of Trade Unions (Kenya), COTU (K), is highly concerned about the increasing instances of Kenyan workers being abused by foreign investors. We are aware of a troubling video that has gone viral on social media, showing a Chinese citizen, supposedly a manager at TCM Mabati Factory in Eldoret, clearly attacking a Kenyan worker under his supervision,” stated a portion of the COTU statement.
In his correspondence, Francis Atwoli mentioned the increasing pattern of foreign investors mistreating local workers, giving the example of a Chinese investor at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) who made Kenyan workers sing Chinese songs before, during, and after work.
“Therefore, COTU demands that the Chinese citizen seen assaulting a Kenyan worker at TCM Mabati Factory be deported immediately. Anything less would be a breach of the faith that Kenyan workers have placed in your ministry and the government in general,” he added.
“Just last week, COTU voiced its concerns and demanded the deportation of another Chinese investor at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) who, in addition to making Kenyan workers sing Chinese songs before, during, and after work, also verbally abused the General Secretary of the Tailors and Textile Workers Union.
COTU has also requested that the relevant authorities, including the Interior Department, improve their monitoring, compliance, and enforcement efforts related to businesses managed by foreign nationals.
