Ogola challenges Ruto over job and glass industry crisis

Kenya’s glass processing industry has emerged as an unexpected flashpoint in the debate over industrial policy, cost of living, and the rule of law under President William Ruto’s administration.

Economist and human rights activist Fred Ogola now argues that the crisis reveals a deeper problem: the growing disconnect between economic promises and on-the-ground implementation.

When President Ruto took office, his administration pledged to prioritise economic transformation through a plan and a manifesto that emphasised job creation by supporting local manufacturers and value-added industries.

Sectors such as glass processing were expected to benefit from tax incentives, administrative efficiency, and fair market access to lower construction costs and expand employment.

Instead, Ogola says the glass industry has become a case study in how policy failures can undermine those goals.

“What we are seeing is not technocratic execution of industrial policy, but the growing influence of vested commercial interests,” he notes, describing the situation as one where tumbocrats rather than technocrats appear to be shaping outcomes.

At the centre of the controversy are monopoly supply concerns. According to industry sources cited by Ogola, Kenyan glass processors have effectively been confined to a single dominant supplier: KEDA Ceramics of Tanzania, through its Kenyan subsidiary Twyford Ceramics Kenya.

The supplied glass, processors claim, does not meet processing quality standards, lacks variety, and excludes high-performance glass products commonly used in advanced construction markets.

This arrangement is claimed to have created a de facto monopoly that weakens competition and exports industrial advantage outside Kenya. Ogola likens it to past sectoral scandals, warning that the glass industry risks becoming a looting machine similar to controversies previously seen in oil, sugar, and steel.

Cost disparities illustrate the problem starkly. Commercial documents, including a 29 January 2026 invoice from KEDA Ceramics, indicate Kenyan processors are paying about USD 4.28 per square meter for glass, while comparable glass imported directly from China averages USD 2.00 per square meter. The difference has sharply raised production costs and eroded Kenya’s competitiveness in export markets.

Beyond industry balance sheets, the fiscal implications are significant. Ogola estimates Kenya may be losing around KSh1.7 billion annually in direct and indirect revenue due to constrained imports and supply chains routed through Tanzania.

Lost income includes import duty, the Railway Development Levy, port handling charges, and business for Kenyan clearing, forwarding, and transport firms.

“The Government must publicly explain the policy rationale behind this arrangement, who benefits from it, and what safeguards exist to protect Kenyan industry and revenue,” Ogola demands.

Job crisis

Employment is another major concern. Current data show the glass manufacturing and processing sector supports 1,253 direct jobs and more than 23,000 indirect jobs across construction, transport, logistics, glazing services, and hardware supply chains.

Any sustained increase in input costs or disruption in raw material access threatens tens of thousands of livelihoods.

For ordinary Kenyans, the impact is already being felt. Higher glass prices push up construction costs, which are passed on to tenants and homeowners.

With roughly 90 per cent of Kenyans renting and home ownership remaining low, rising building costs worsen housing affordability and feed into the broader cost-of-living crisis.

The dispute also raises questions about the rule of law. Parliament passed Section 46 of the Finance Act 2025 to exempt float glass used for processing from excise duty, aiming to promote local manufacturing and protect jobs.

Yet Ogola says implementation has been frustrated by administrative delays and continued duty enforcement by the Kenya Revenue Authority, prompting court action.

The High Court has since directed the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments to allow the release of cargo under bond or bank guarantee.

Politically, Ogola, who is also a Liberal Democratic Party presidential aspirant, warns that economic pain cannot be deferred to election cycles.

“For workers losing jobs today, the pain is immediate,” he says.