Fight Inequality Alliance Kenya

PRESS STATEMENT ALERT!! Inuka Kenya Ni Sisi! joins the East African Civil Society Organisations ,in raising concern over how measures affecting foreign informal traders are being communicated and implemented in Kenya We recognise Kenya’s legitimate sovereign right to regulate immigration, employment, taxation, and business activity. However, such measures must be lawful, proportionate, non-discriminatory, and consistent with Kenya’s obligations under the Constitution, the EAC Treaty, and the EAC Common Market Protocol. The coalition is calling for: 1. Clarity from government on the actual scope of the Local Content Bill 2025, which targets multinational corporate practices, not informal EAC traders. 2. An end to the conflation of immigration enforcement with local content policy, which risks unfairly penalising lawfully present EAC citizens. 3. Transparent, evidence-based enforcement consistent with Kenya's regional commitments under the EAC and AfCFTA. 4. Continued implementation of the Shirika Plan's socio-economic inclusion goals for regional migrants. 5. Public sensitization on the legal status of EAC citizens and refugees to prevent harassment and discrimination. 6. Government assurances of safety and stability for regional traders to curb rising xenophobic sentiment. The 90-day regularisation window is a reprieve, not a remedy , and the six days before it was announced already saw harassment, property loss, and panic among Burundian nationals in Nairobi. Kenya's reputation as a regional leader , especially as co-host of AFCON 2027, depends on choosing solidarity over scapegoating. Read the full statement here: nisisikenya.org/press-statem… #StopXenophobiaKE #EACSolidarity #RegionalIntegration #JusticeForAll #RadaNiIntegrity