“We Have No Home to Go to”: Burundians in Kitengela Speak Out

On Tuesday, September 8, in Kitengela, a bustling cosmopolitan township south of Nairobi, Archade Nshimirimana, 34, sat quietly on a bench outside his beauty parlour, staring into the distance as anxiety and uncertainty visibly gripped him.

For a man who spent over a decade building a life in Kenya, the government's crackdown on foreign nationals operating small businesses had suddenly cast his future in doubt.

Nshimirimana, a Burundian who arrived in Kenya as a refugee 11 years ago, had not only realised an opportunity but was also smitten by love.

But Kenyan President William Ruto’s recent orders that they leave had left him flat-footed.

On September 2, President Ruto ordered a crackdown on foreigners operating small-scale businesses, saying local traders and hawkers need to be protected.

His September 7 deadline saw foreigners, especially Congolese, Burundians, Ugandans and Rwandans, flock to their Nairobi embassies in fear.

The EastAfricanvisited Kitengela town, which hosts a cocktail of foreigners operating small-scale businesses, including groceries, barbershops and beauty parlours, tailoring and boda-bodas, and found that most of the businesses run by non-Kenyans had been shuttered.

With a population of about 3,500 people and 14 churches, Congolese are dominant non-Kenyans in the township, followed by Burundians, Rwandans and Ugandans, according to church records.

Over the years, Kitengela, a rapid growing cosmopolitan town, had been a strategic town for refugees, both legal and illegal, due its proximity to Nairobi and the availability of menial jobs.

Mr Nshimirimana says he left his hometown in the outskirts of Bujumbura at the height of civil wars exacerbated by the 2015 election and travelled by road to Kenya.

Barely 26 years old and with only secondary school education, he was hosted by one of his relatives, after registering as a refugee with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

"I came into Kenya with several clothes and a burning ambition,” he said. “I have never gone back to my motherland or met my parents physically…I usually video-call them."

He began as a barber in a local barbershop before enrolling himself for an eight-month beauty course that enabled him to work in a spa in the central business district. The spa serves middle-class women -- local and foreign.

"My business has been doing well and I have been able to transform my life and that of my parents back at home. I have always looked forward to expanding to other major towns in the future,” he said.

Mr Nshimirimana is the Burundian community welfare representative. In the 11 years of his stay in Kenya, he found love and married a Kenyan woman two years ago.

He would hate to leave the country, and says the sudden policy shift has affected him mentally and economically and is against the Treaty Establishing the East Africa Community (EAC).

The Treaty stipulates that citizens of EAC partner States have the right to live, work, trade and set up business in Kenya under the Common Market Protocol and Kenyan immigration laws.

"President Ruto made a mistake. We have foreigners, like myself, registered under UNHCR and then those who are here illegally,” Mr Nshimirimana said. "The last seven days have been full of uncertainty and mental torture.”

On Tuesday, when he learnt that the government had opened a 90-day window to regularise status, he sighed with relief.

"I am not willing to go back to Burundi; I’m ready to comply with the Kenyan government directives. Hostility in an EAC member state is counterproductive,” he said.

At the beauty parlour, Mary Kagendo, a customer, said the claim that foreigners were taking Kenyans’ jobs was misplaced.

"Go to any salon or barbershop in Kitengela, you will find a Congolese or a Burundian -- they have mastered the trade of pleasing clients. It’s good to legally register them,” Kagendo said.

Mr Nshimirimana’s compatriot Joyce Marrie, 23, who has hawked boiled eggs and coffee in Kitengela for the past three years, said no one has harassed them although the presidential directive took them aback.

Marrie says she was born in Kenya, atKasarani,to refugee parents. She later moved to Kitengela after completing her secondary school education in 2022.

"I earn Ksh100 after a long day. But I have been saving to accumulate enough capital to start buying eggs and make my own coffee. But I am waiting to see what will happen before resuming work,” she said.

Intermarriage has complicated matters for some. “Most of us are not registered under the UNHCR programme. We fear we would be a soft target in a government purge, prompting the kind of panic witnessed on Monday,” one toldThe EastAfrican.

Burundi has condemned the actions taken against its nationals in Kenya and demanded that they be protected by the state.

In a post on Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana said: “Kenyans live peacefully in Burundi. But if this hate speech against Burundi continues, things will certainly escalate. The Kenyan government is responsible for the lives of Burundians living in Kenya. Allowing Kenyan civilians to act as police gives the impression of a failed state, as it allows violence, looting and xenophobia to flourish."

Meanwhile, Congolese national Jane Kibasumba, 26, and her sister who hawking food in the streets of Kitengela told The EastAfrican they feared for their safety.

"We fear being attacked. Our cousin was attacked at Kasarani and he is nursing serious injuries,” Ms Kibasumba said.

Kajiado County Commissioner Michael Yator has urged all immigrants to register as per the government directive.

"We have assured all immigrants in Kitengela that we have beefed up security so they should continue their work as usual. No one will attack them. Let them seize the 90-day window to register,” Mr Yator.

Isinya Sub-County Police Commander Simon Lokitari also said there was no cause for alarm for non-Kenyans residing in Kitengela. “We urge Kenyans to co-exist peacefully with them (foreigners)… Any aggression towards them will be tackled as a criminal offence,” Mr Lokitari said.