Orange Democratic Movement party Director of Communications Philip Etale has hailed Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang'i's directive to deport Chinese nationals involved in small trade within the country.

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However, Mr Etale, in a tweet on Wednesday, said the directive should not just target those selling clothes but also those involved in phone business, whom he said are many.

According to the ODM man, Chinese nationals are arrogant and behave as if they own Kenya. He asked the minister to have all of them deported.

"Dear CS @FredMatiangi, thank you for your Executive Order. But the Chinese are not only trading in mitumba clothes but other things including cheap phones. They are so arrogant and quite unruly as if they own Kenya. They need to go," he wrote.

Earlier on Wednesday, the powerful minister had ordered deportation of Chinese nationals engaging in local trading, arguing that they have no such permits.

“It is illegal for foreigners to engage in local trading in Kenya. We do not have a classification of foreign traders coming to Kenya to do hawking or local trading," he said.

"We will escort them to the airport, bid them bye and ensure they have their dinner at their countries by tomorrow evening,” said Dr Matiang'i.

Currently, hundreds of Chinese are working as experts in Standard Gauge Railway construction but a number of them are believed to have sneaked into the country illegally.