Immigrants No More Visa To Enter Kenya, But Replacement Travel Permit Scheme Reaps Complaints

Kenyan illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Summer kamal el deen)

JAKARTA - President William Ruto said in December that visitors to Kenya no longer needed Visa from January, but his replacement scheme drew complaints.

President Ruto said his government had developed a digital platform, to ensure all visitors would receive an electronic travel permit first, without having to apply for a visa.

"It is no longer necessary for anyone from all over the world to bear the burden of applying for a visa to come to Kenya," he said in a speech at the capital Nairobi at an event to commemorate 60 years of independence last month.

President Ruto himself has long called for visa-free travel on the African continent. At a conference in the Republic of Congo last October, he said people from African countries did not need visas to visit Kenya by the end of 2023.

The tourism industry is known to play an important role in Kenya's economy, offering coastal holidays along the Indian Ocean coastline and wildlife safaris on land.

"Kenya has a simple message for mankind: Welcome Home!" said President Ruto.

However, although it no longer has to take care of visas at a cost of more than 51 US dollars, now almost all visitors, including from several countries that previously enjoyed free visas, had to pay $34 to get Electronic Travel Authority (ETA).

This action has sparked backlash, and many people are using social media to voice their anger. Some travel industry players have warned that this could have a serious impact on tourism at a time when the country hopes to attract more visitors.

This new policy requires visitors to apply online for at least three days, before travel and pay 34 US dollars as processing costs. Since its early January effect, this has immediately drawn complaints.

When ETA came into effect in the first week of January, Jones Ntawaira, who frequently travels a business from Malawi, expressed his surprise at the move in a post on X.

The founder of energy startup Zuwa Energy said, for someone who travels frequently to Nairobi for a meeting with partners and investors, this new regulation is an unwanted obstacle.

"Now that means not getting that convenience, it is gone, it must be submitted four days earlier," he said.

"It's not a matter of 30 US dollars but I think the process is that you have to apply online and wait for three days and then submit documents. We didn't experience it before."

Other visitors are concerned about the new requirements imposed on children. Previously, children under 16 from several countries did not need to pay for visas.

It is known, the Kenyan Tourism Council hopes to attract 5.5 million visitors every year in the next four years. However, these new policy critics question the impact of the policy on the arrival of refugees.

"The time you spend on these things (applications), sometimes makes you disappointed, you decide not to do something you usually do and you do it elsewhere or in a different way," Ntawaira said.

Meanwhile, an aviation executive Sean Mendis said, "The long term will not be good for Kenyan tourism."

"This is one of the loudest visa regimes in Africa today, and it disguises itself as travel liberalization," Sean Mendis said in a post on LinkedIn.

There are also concerns that this new system could impact Kenyan tourists if countries currently offering unrestricted access to them seek to apply reciprocal provisions.

On the other hand, Kenyan authorities insist ETA is a step forward for his country.

A statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs last week said the implementation of the system was "based on the need to have a fair, faster and reliable system that also deals with Kenyan security and other strategic interests."

Citizens from countries in the East African Community (EAC) regional bloc, which is excluded from ETA for the next six months, are said to be submitting an application to travel to Kenya soon.

"EAC citizens will be given a free ETA," said Kenya's Director of Communications at the Ministry of Home Affairs Nixon Ng Ng'ang.

"We are developing a system to recognize the various types of EAC documents used for travel in the region."

"Some of these (travel documents) do not comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization. The six-month period will be used to harmonize regional interests and compliance with international travel protocols," he said.