{"id":283,"date":"2026-09-12T07:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lemandat.org\/en\/?p=283"},"modified":"2026-09-13T01:09:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T00:09:05","slug":"foreigners-unwanted-in-kenyas-small-scale-trade-what-is-the-eac-common-market-still-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lemandat.org\/en\/2026\/09\/foreigners-unwanted-in-kenyas-small-scale-trade-what-is-the-eac-common-market-still-for\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreigners unwanted in Kenya\u2019s small-scale trade: What is the EAC Common Market still for?"},"content":{"rendered":"

President William Ruto\u2019s move to reserve certain small-scale economic activities for Kenyans has triggered anxiety among foreign communities, particularly Burundians, and raised a fundamental question about the meaning of the East African Community\u2019s Common Market. Nairobi has since opened a 90-day regularisation window and insisted that no blanket ban on foreign small-scale traders is currently in force. But the central issue remains unresolved: if a Burundian or another EAC citizen complies with all Kenyan immigration and business requirements, can Kenya nevertheless exclude that person from an economic activity solely because they are not Kenyan? (Le Mandat)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hundreds of Burundians seeking travel documents at their embassy in Nairobi transformed what might otherwise have remained a technical dispute over immigration and economic regulation into a regional political and diplomatic issue.<\/p>\n

The anxiety followed President William Ruto\u2019s September 2 intervention on foreign participation in small-scale businesses. Ruto argued that Kenya welcomes genuine foreign investors who bring capital, establish production and create jobs, but said activities such as hawking and small retail should be left to Kenyans.<\/p>\n

But the President went considerably further than questioning foreign participation in the sector.<\/p>\n

He directed the government to begin shutting down small businesses operated by foreign nationals from Monday, September 7, while Parliament considered legislation intended to regulate foreign participation and potentially reserve certain economic activities for Kenyan citizens. Ruto indicated that administrative action would proceed rather than wait for the parliamentary process.<\/p>\n

The announcement triggered immediate anxiety among foreign communities, particularly Burundians and Congolese. Hundreds of Burundians subsequently gathered at their embassy in Nairobi, while some foreign-owned businesses closed and reports of threats and harassment emerged.<\/p>\n

According to Government of Kenya and UNHCR data, Kenya hosted over 35,000 registered Burundian refugees and asylum-seekers as of July 31, 2026, including more than 10,500 in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

The scenes at the Burundian embassy demonstrated how quickly an economic-policy announcement could develop into a much broader regional issue.<\/p>\n

From a five-day crackdown to 90 days of regularisation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ruto\u2019s September 2 directive initially gave foreign nationals engaged in hawking and small-scale retail only a few days before the crackdown was due to begin on Monday, September 7.<\/p>\n

The deadline triggered business closures, uncertainty and a rush by some foreigners \u2014 particularly Burundians \u2014 to obtain travel documents.<\/p>\n

Nairobi subsequently changed its immediate approach.<\/p>\n

On September 8, State House announced a 90-day regularisation exercise for people conducting business in Kenya who need to bring their immigration status and business operations into compliance with the law.<\/p>\n

The new framework therefore replaced the immediate enforcement timetable with a substantially longer period for compliance.<\/p>\n

During that period, the responsible government agencies are expected to provide guidance and administer immigration, work-permit, registration and licensing requirements “fairly, consistently and without discrimination.”<\/p>\n

Once the 90-day period expires, those requirements are to be enforced firmly and strictly, but in accordance with the law and due process.<\/p>\n

State House also warned that no individual or group has authority to harass, intimidate, threaten or interfere with foreign nationals or their businesses.<\/p>\n

\n

pic.twitter.com\/2YW4EH3Hks<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) September 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The 90-day exercise therefore represented a significant retreat from the immediate timetable announced on September 2.<\/p>\n

But it resolved only one part of the controversy.<\/p>\n

Being undocumented and being foreign are two different questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kenyan government says some foreign nationals, including citizens of EAC Partner States such as Burundi, live or conduct business in Kenya without all the documentation required for their status or activities.<\/p>\n

That is a legitimate regulatory question.<\/p>\n

Membership of the East African Community does not automatically exempt a citizen of another Partner State from every administrative requirement imposed under Kenyan law.<\/p>\n

A person may have entered Kenya legally but still require documentation to carry out a particular economic activity. A business may need registration and licensing. Immigration and business requirements may also apply simultaneously.<\/p>\n

The problem, however, appears when two different questions are conflated.<\/p>\n

Regularising a trader who lacks required documentation is one thing. Prohibiting a fully compliant trader from conducting an otherwise lawful economic activity solely because that trader is foreign is another.<\/p>\n

And it is the second question that takes the Kenyan controversy directly into the territory of EAC law.<\/p>\n

What happens to a Burundian who complies with every requirement?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consider a Burundian legally established in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

The trader has regularised their immigration status. The business is properly registered. The required permits and licences have been obtained. Tax obligations are met.<\/p>\n

Can Kenya nevertheless tell that trader:<\/p>\n

You may no longer conduct this activity because you are Burundian rather than Kenyan?<\/p>\n

That is where the controversy becomes much more complicated.<\/p>\n

As of September 11, the answer cannot yet be found in an enacted Kenyan law implementing Ruto\u2019s proposed nationality-based restrictions on small-scale trade.<\/p>\n

Indeed, State House itself has made an important distinction between economic opportunities that may eventually be reserved for Kenyans and the rights of foreigners who are legally entitled to conduct business in the country.<\/p>\n

Ruto puts the Local Content Bill at the centre of the policy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The September 8 State House statement provides the clearest official indication yet of how Ruto intends to translate his proposal into law.<\/p>\n

The President directed that the Local Content Bill, 2025 \u2014 National Assembly Bill No. 45 of 2025 \u2014 currently before Parliament, be expanded to establish what State House described as a “clear, fair and predictable framework” governing participation in small-scale trade and enterprise.<\/p>\n

The future framework is expected to identify categories of economic activity that may be reserved for Kenyan citizens.<\/p>\n

But the same presidential directive contains an important qualification: the framework is also expected to provide legal certainty and appropriate protection for foreign nationals lawfully entitled to work, invest and conduct business in Kenya.<\/p>\n

The distinction matters.<\/p>\n

Ruto has therefore identified a legislative mechanism for potentially reserving some activities for Kenyans, but the categories concerned and the rules governing their application have yet to be defined.<\/p>\n

The current Local Content Bill does not ban foreign hawkers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bill currently before Parliament was not originally drafted as legislation prohibiting foreigners from hawking, operating kiosks or running small retail shops.<\/p>\n

Its focus is principally on ensuring that foreign investment produces greater benefits for Kenya through local procurement, employment, agricultural sourcing and capacity building.<\/p>\n

What the published Bill does not currently say is:<\/p>\n

Foreign nationals are prohibited from hawking, operating kiosks or engaging in small retail trade.<\/p>\n

Ruto\u2019s directive is therefore significant precisely because it calls for the existing Bill to be expanded.<\/p>\n

The eventual amendments \u2014 rather than the current text alone \u2014 will determine what activities could be reserved for Kenyans and how foreign nationals already lawfully working or doing business in Kenya will be treated.<\/p>\n

Mudavadi: there is no blanket ban<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two days after the State House statement, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi provided another important clarification.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the diplomatic corps on September 10, he said Kenya had not imposed a blanket ban on foreign nationals engaging in small-scale businesses.<\/p>\n

He described the government\u2019s approach as regulatory rather than discriminatory.<\/p>\n

Mudavadi said Kenya remained open to both small- and large-scale trade by foreigners provided they complied with immigration, work-permit, business-registration and licensing requirements.<\/p>\n

Crucially for citizens of neighbouring countries, he linked the government\u2019s approach to compliance with the EAC Common Market Protocol as well as Kenyan law.<\/p>\n

His remarks reinforce what State House had stated two days earlier: the current 90-day exercise is a regularisation process, not an already enacted general prohibition on foreign small-scale traders.<\/p>\n

“Small-scale trade” does not necessarily mean “small capital”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ruto\u2019s distinction between major foreign investors and foreigners involved in hawking or small retail trade does not mean that Kenya has already established a universal financial threshold separating the two.<\/p>\n

Kenyan legislation already contains criteria for classifying micro and small enterprises, including turnover, number of employees and investment or equipment values.<\/p>\n

But those existing classifications should not automatically be treated as the definition that the future expanded Local Content Bill will use.<\/p>\n

The eventual legislation will therefore have to define exactly what constitutes the economic space the government wants to reserve for Kenyans.<\/p>\n

Ruto’s intervention did not emerge from nowhere<\/strong><\/p>\n

For months, complaints had been growing in Kenya over foreigners competing with citizens for jobs and small-scale economic opportunities.<\/p>\n

Burundians were among the communities repeatedly singled out.<\/p>\n

In June, Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi publicly complained about Burundian participation in jobs and economic activities she argued should primarily benefit Kenyans.<\/p>\n

One of the claims circulating in that debate was that some employers preferred Burundian construction workers because they allegedly accepted lower daily wages.<\/p>\n

Figures of around KSh400 for some Burundian workers compared with approximately KSh700 sought by some Kenyan workers were cited.<\/p>\n

Those figures should not be treated as independent labour-market statistics. They were claims made in the political debate.<\/p>\n

But they demonstrate that the issue of Burundian participation in Kenya\u2019s lower-income labour market and small-scale trade existed before Ruto\u2019s September intervention.<\/p>\n

The evidence therefore supports a more cautious conclusion: Ruto intervened in an already existing domestic debate over foreign participation in jobs and small-scale economic activities.<\/p>\n

But a Burundian is not legally identical to every other foreigner<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is where the Kenyan debate becomes a regional integration issue.<\/p>\n

A national of a country outside the East African Community is primarily subject to Kenyan legislation governing foreign nationals, alongside Kenya\u2019s other international obligations.<\/p>\n

A Burundian has an additional legal framework available:<\/p>\n

East African Community law.<\/p>\n

The same applies, in principle, to nationals of other EAC Partner States.<\/p>\n

The Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market, in force since 2010, establishes a regional framework governing the movement of persons and workers, the right of establishment and residence, services and capital.<\/p>\n

Article 3 establishes the principle of non-discrimination among Partner State nationals on grounds of nationality.<\/p>\n

Article 7 deals with free movement of persons.<\/p>\n

Article 10 addresses free movement of workers.<\/p>\n

But for the small-scale self-employed trader, perhaps the most important provision is Article 13.<\/p>\n

Article 13 could become the heart of the dispute<\/strong><\/p>\n

Article 13 guarantees nationals of Partner States the right of establishment.<\/p>\n

It requires non-discrimination against nationals of other Partner States based on nationality.<\/p>\n

Most importantly for the present controversy, the right of establishment includes the ability of a Partner State national to take up and pursue economic activities as a self-employed person and to establish and manage economic undertakings in another Partner State.<\/p>\n

The Protocol also requires Partner States to remove restrictions on establishment based on nationality and not to introduce new such restrictions, except as otherwise provided under the Protocol.<\/p>\n

That language goes directly to the heart of the Kenyan debate.<\/p>\n

If future Kenyan legislation ultimately produces a rule whose effect is:<\/p>\n

A Kenyan may conduct this activity, but a Burundian may not conduct the same activity because they are Burundian,<\/p>\n

there would be a serious question about its compatibility with the EAC Common Market\u2019s right of establishment and principle of non-discrimination.<\/p>\n

That does not mean every possible restriction would automatically violate EAC law.<\/p>\n

The Protocol provides for limitations in specified circumstances, including public policy, public security and public health.<\/p>\n

The exact wording, scope and justification of the eventual Kenyan legislation will therefore matter enormously.<\/p>\n

But the legal tension is already unmistakable.<\/p>\n

And the September 8 State House statement makes that tension even clearer.<\/p>\n

While announcing that some economic activities may be reserved for Kenyan citizens, the government simultaneously reaffirmed Kenya\u2019s commitment to the East African Community and regional integration, including the continued facilitation of the movement of people, <\/strong>labour, services and capital in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory frameworks.<\/p>\n

The question is therefore not whether Kenya recognises its regional obligations. State House explicitly says it does. The question is how the future legislation will reconcile those obligations with activities reserved on the basis of Kenyan citizenship.<\/p>\n

Refugees are a separate legal category<\/strong><\/p>\n

The debate becomes even more complex when refugees and asylum-seekers are considered.<\/p>\n

The more than 35,000 registered Burundian refugees and asylum-seekers in Kenya cannot simply be treated as ordinary economic migrants.<\/p>\n

Recognised refugees operate under an additional legal framework established by Kenya\u2019s Refugees Act, 2021 and international refugee law.<\/p>\n

Moreover, refugees and asylum-seekers do not necessarily have identical legal status.<\/p>\n

Several legally distinct populations are therefore being compressed into the political term “foreigners”: a recognised Burundian refugee, a Burundian asylum-seeker, a Burundian EAC citizen who moved to Kenya for economic reasons, a non-EAC economic migrant and a foreign investor.<\/p>\n

Their legal positions are not identical.<\/p>\n

Burundi turns the issue into a diplomatic dispute<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gitega reacted strongly as anxiety spread among Burundians in Kenya.<\/p>\n

On September 5, Burundi\u2019s Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana convened an urgent meeting in Bujumbura with ambassadors representing EAC Partner States.<\/p>\n

The treatment of Burundians involved in small-scale economic activities in Kenya was among the principal concerns.<\/p>\n

Burundi recognised Kenya\u2019s sovereign authority to regulate commercial activities within its territory but insisted that the fundamental rights and dignity of Burundian nationals must be respected.<\/p>\n

Gitega also recalled earlier statements by Kenyan politicians targeting Burundian workers and traders.<\/p>\n

Kenya\u2019s ambassador to Burundi, Henry Wambuma, assured the Burundian authorities that relations between the two countries remained strong and that the concerns would be communicated to Nairobi.<\/p>\n

Gitega raises the possibility of reciprocity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Burundi also prepared measures to facilitate the return of citizens wishing to leave Kenya, including transport and emergency travel documentation.<\/p>\n

Bizimana warned that Kenya would be held responsible for what happened to Burundian citizens.<\/p>\n

He also invoked the situation of Kenyans living peacefully in Burundi and suggested that continued hostility towards Burundians could eventually affect that situation.<\/p>\n

Burundi\u2019s official communication went further, saying the country reserved the right to take necessary measures within the framework of reciprocity.<\/p>\n

That language is revealing.<\/p>\n

Reciprocity belongs to the traditional logic of relations between Sovereign States:<\/p>\n

if you restrict our citizens, we may restrict yours.<\/p>\n

A common market is supposed to move beyond precisely that logic by establishing regional rights that citizens can exercise across borders.<\/p>\n

If a Burundian derives economic rights in Kenya from the EAC Common Market Protocol, those rights should not merely depend on whether Burundi chooses to extend an equivalent favour to a Kenyan.<\/p>\n

The reappearance of reciprocity therefore exposes a deeper weakness in East African integration.<\/p>\n

Kenya, Burundi, UNHCR and IOM establish a joint mechanism<\/strong><\/p>\n

The crisis subsequently acquired an explicit humanitarian dimension.<\/p>\n

Kenya established a Joint Task Team following consultations involving Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing\u2019Oei, Burundi\u2019s Ambassador to Kenya Evelyne Habonimana, UNHCR Kenya Representative Fatima Mohammed-Cole and IOM Kenya Representative Nomagugu Ncube.<\/p>\n

The mechanism is intended to monitor emerging issues involving Burundian nationals and ensure that any return process takes place voluntarily, transparently and with dignity.<\/p>\n

This broadened the dispute beyond immigration and trade.<\/p>\n

It now involves bilateral diplomacy, refugee protection and migration management.<\/p>\n

UDA and CNDD-FDD open a party-to-party channel<\/strong><\/p>\n

On September 9, Hassan Omar Hassan, Secretary General of Kenya\u2019s ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA), received R\u00e9v\u00e9rien Ndikuriyo, Secretary General of Burundi\u2019s ruling CNDD-FDD, at UDA headquarters in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

Burundi\u2019s Ambassador Evelyne Habonimana accompanied Ndikuriyo.<\/p>\n

The two parties discussed cooperation, but the situation of Burundian nationals living and working in Kenya was also addressed.<\/p>\n

According to UDA, Omar reassured Ndikuriyo that the Kenyan government was committed to regularising their stay and said the necessary work permits would be issued within the 90-day period.<\/p>\n

The Kenyan government\u2019s broader description of the 90-day exercise speaks of an opportunity to regularise immigration status, work permits, registration and licensing requirements. That is not necessarily the same as guaranteeing that every applicant will automatically receive a permit.<\/p>\n

Ndikuriyo addresses Burundians at the embassy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ndikuriyo subsequently went to the Burundian Embassy in Nairobi, where large numbers of Burundians had gathered seeking emergency travel documents.<\/p>\n

Speaking directly to his compatriots, the CNDD-FDD Secretary General explained that he had interrupted a trip to Tanzania to travel to Kenya and assess the situation facing Burundians.<\/p>\n

He announced a substantial reinforcement of the embassy\u2019s capacity to issue emergency travel documents.<\/p>\n

According to Ndikuriyo, 50 people were to be mobilised to assist with the operation, with the objective of issuing around 5,000 laissez-passer on Thursday and another 5,000 on Friday if necessary.<\/p>\n

Ndikuriyo therefore urged those who had somewhere to stay to leave the embassy area and return to their residences rather than remain gathered there.<\/p>\n

He stressed that Kenya had now granted an additional 90 days and argued that people could not be expected to leave the country in only five days.<\/p>\n

Ndikuriyo also placed the Kenyan situation in a broader regional context.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Burundians at the embassy, he said that nearly 600 Burundians had been arrested in Tanzania because they lacked travel documents. He also referred to a recent trip to South Africa, where documentation problems affecting Burundians had similarly been discussed.<\/p>\n

But the dispute is not simply about whether Burundians must comply with immigration and documentation requirements. It is about what happens once they do.<\/p>\n

For an EAC citizen who lacks the required documents, regularisation may resolve the immediate problem.<\/p>\n

But for an EAC citizen who has regularised their status and complied with all applicable Kenyan requirements, the fundamental question remains unanswered:<\/p>\n

can that person still be excluded from a lawful economic activity solely because of nationality?<\/p>\n

Tanzania is already testing the same question<\/strong><\/p>\n

In July 2025, Tanzania adopted the Business Licensing (Prohibition of Business Activities for Non-Citizens) Order, 2025 \u2014 Government Notice No. 487A.<\/p>\n

The measure prohibits non-citizens \u2014 including nationals of other EAC Partner States \u2014 from engaging in 15 categories of economic activity.<\/p>\n

Unlike Kenya, where the final legislative framework is still evolving, Tanzania therefore provides a concrete example of economic activities legally reserved for citizens.<\/p>\n

And the Tanzanian measure has already reached the East African Court of Justice.<\/p>\n

Two cases could define the limits of national restrictions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first is Reference No. 31 of 2025, Kalali Steven v. Attorney General of the United Republic of Tanzania, filed on July 31, 2025.<\/p>\n

The applicant challenges Tanzania\u2019s prohibition on non-citizens participating in the 15 business sectors, arguing that it infringes the EAC Treaty, the Common Market Protocol and the right of establishment.<\/p>\n

The second is Reference No. 37 of 2025, Isabirye Ceaser v. Attorney General of the United Republic of Tanzania & Secretary General of the East African Community, filed on August 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

That case similarly challenges the Tanzanian measure and explicitly raises its application to citizens of other EAC Partner States.<\/p>\n

As of 11 September 2026, no First Instance judgment has been published in either case.<\/p>\n

The Court has therefore not yet provided the answer that could prove decisive for the Kenyan debate.<\/p>\n

Nairobi is trying to defuse the crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kenya\u2019s immediate position changed substantially between Ruto\u2019s September 2 directive and the State House statement issued six days later.<\/p>\n

The original instruction was for the crackdown on foreign hawkers and small-scale retailers to begin on September 7. The September 8 framework instead gave foreign business operators 90 days to regularise their immigration status, work permits, business registration and licensing requirements.<\/p>\n

The emphasis consequently shifted towards regularisation, documentation, security and dialogue.<\/p>\n

The September 8 State House statement provides the administrative framework and explicitly requires the regularisation process to be conducted fairly and without discrimination.<\/p>\n

The Kenya\u2013Burundi\u2013UNHCR\u2013IOM Joint Task Team adds a humanitarian and diplomatic mechanism.<\/p>\n

The UDA\u2013CNDD-FDD meeting provides a political channel.<\/p>\n

Ndikuriyo\u2019s intervention at the Burundian embassy demonstrates that Gitega itself is now taking the 90-day regularisation period into account.<\/p>\n

And Mudavadi\u2019s clarification adds perhaps the most important immediate message from Nairobi:<\/p>\n

there is currently no blanket ban, and the government says its approach is regulatory rather than discriminatory.<\/p>\n

But the President\u2019s objective of protecting certain small-scale economic activities for Kenyans has not disappeared.<\/p>\n

It is now explicitly tied to the planned expansion of the Local Content Bill.<\/p>\n

The decisive documents are still missing<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is where the controversy stands as of 11 September 2026.<\/p>\n

Two decisive texts are still missing.<\/p>\n

The first is in Nairobi: the actual wording of the amendments to the Local Content Bill identifying activities that may be reserved exclusively for Kenyans and defining the treatment of foreign nationals lawfully entitled to conduct business.<\/p>\n

The second may eventually come from Arusha: the judgments of the East African Court of Justice in the cases challenging Tanzania\u2019s already existing restrictions.<\/p>\n

Kenya\u2019s future legislation will have to answer some fundamental questions.<\/p>\n

What exactly constitutes small-scale trade? Which activities, if any, will be reserved exclusively for Kenyan citizens? And will EAC citizens be treated like other foreign nationals or benefit from the rights guaranteed under the Common Market Protocol?<\/p>\n

Above all:<\/p>\n

how will Kenya reconcile any nationality-based restriction with Article 13 of the EAC Common Market Protocol?<\/p>\n

What is the Common Market still for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The controversy ultimately extends far beyond relations between Kenya and Burundi.<\/p>\n

It asks what EAC citizenship actually means when a citizen crosses an internal Community border.<\/p>\n

On paper, the architecture is ambitious.<\/p>\n

Article 3 establishes non-discrimination on grounds of nationality.<\/p>\n

Article 7 establishes free movement of persons.<\/p>\n

Article 10 addresses free movement of workers.<\/p>\n

Article 13 establishes the right of establishment, including the pursuit of economic activities as a self-employed person.<\/p>\n

Article 14 addresses residence associated with the exercise of Common Market rights.<\/p>\n

The Kenyan controversy exposes the gap between these regional commitments and their implementation on the ground.<\/p>\n

Kenya unquestionably retains the authority to enforce its immigration, licensing, business-registration and tax laws. But requiring an EAC citizen to comply with those laws is different from excluding that person from an economic activity solely because of nationality.<\/p>\n

The real test is therefore not the undocumented trader. It is the fully compliant EAC citizen.<\/p>\n

And part of the answer may come from Arusha.<\/p>\n

The two cases already before the East African Court of Justice over Tanzania\u2019s restrictions could have major implications for Kenya. If the Court finds those restrictions incompatible with EAC law, its reasoning could challenge comparable measures elsewhere in the Community. If Tanzania prevails, Partner States would have considerably greater room to reserve certain economic activities for their own citizens.<\/p>\n

But whatever the Court decides, another question will remain: how effectively are EAC law and EACJ decisions implemented by Partner States on the ground?<\/p>\n

Ultimately, a Common Market is not measured only by protocols, summits or judgments delivered in Arusha. It is measured by the rights an ordinary East African can actually exercise when crossing an internal Community border to work, establish a business or earn a living.<\/p>\n

The Kenyan controversy \u2014 and the cases now before the EACJ \u2014 may therefore determine how much the words “East African Common Market” really mean in practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President William Ruto\u2019s move to reserve certain small-scale economic activities for Kenyans has triggered anxiety among foreign communities, particularly Burundians, and raised a fundamental question about the meaning of the East African Community\u2019s Common Market. 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