Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Wednesday ordered the deportation of Chinese foreigners who were engaging in trading activities with locals in Gikomba market.
Speaking in Nakuru where he had gone to officiate the launch of the e-passport center in Nakuru, the CS confirmed that traders who will be found transacting without the required documentation will be deported.
Reports showed the no-nonsense CS clarifying, “We are not issuing work permits to traders because we don’t do that as government. We don’t have a classification of work permits called traders. And any people who are in markets and so on trying to trade, those are illegal immigrants.”
“They are here illegally and our security team understands that. We will deport them. The 6 in Nairobi, they were 6, and were seen in the markets, by tomorrow they will be having supper in their country.”
This comes after recent concerns that Chinese businessmen were taking over small scale trades in Gikomba, Nyamakima and Kamukunji markets in Nairobi.
Kenyans also noted that the Chinese were posing a threat to the economy as they were sending the profits from their businesses back home and not reinvesting into the country as the Kenyans would do.
The government’s purpose for opening the new e-passport center in Nakuru was to progressively decentralize immigration services to ease congestion and reduce long queues at the Nyayo headquarters in Nairobi and complement the service delivery at the Kisumu and Mombasa offices.
The CS pointed out that the move was not only in response to the skyrocketing demand for new travel documents but also in the matter of government policy position on strengthening administrative systems and improving service delivery.
