'It's like a dog set loose on us' - fear over Kenya's crackdown on foreign traders

Yet observers and those affected argue that it did not have to be this way.Academic Hesbon Owilla told the BBC the president's comments were bound to be misinterpreted, especially by people who did not have the right documentation.He says that while the proposed policy is good for Kenya and in line with global migration protocols, the communication about it ought to have been more diplomatic.For those not in the audience, Owilla says people interpreted the president words as saying: "We are kicking these guys out."The president did not stop at small-scale traders. A day later, he ordered India's Tata Chemicals to leave the country, saying the company had not provided sufficient benefits to the local Maasai community in Kajiado county.Tata has been mining soda ash for years in Lake Magadi, a vast area often covered by a whitish salt crust. The lake's extreme briny environment sustains algae blooms that attract flamboyances of pink flamingos that thrive in the area.Mining operations began at the lake in 1911 under a British colonial arrangement that is said to have remained largely intact, despite long-running land and resource disputes pitting the company and its predecessors agains...