By Brian Okoth
On Tuesday, Kenya became the first country in the world to abolish visa as a mandatory requirement for all foreign travellers.
President William Ruto termed the development "historic" in his speech in the capital Nairobi, saying there was scientific evidence to prove that the East African nation was mankind's country of origin.
The announcement came on Kenya's 60th Independence Day anniversary.
"Beginning January 2024, Kenya will be a visa-free country. It shall no longer be necessary for any person, from any corner of the globe, to carry the burden of applying for a visa to come to Kenya," President Ruto said in his address at Uhuru Gardens in the southwestern part of Nairobi.
Digital application
In place of visa, the government has introduced a "digital platform" that will "ensure that all travellers to Kenya are identified in advance on an electronic platform."
"All travellers will obtain electronic travel authorisation," Ruto said, emphasising background checks as a prerequisite for travel into Kenya.
Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi said in a statement that he "strongly" supported the president's move to lift visa requirement for "all and sundry."
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary (PS) Korir Sing'oei told TRT Afrika that Kenya reserves the right of admission, and that "not everyone will be allowed to enter the country."
'Apply and wait'
"The people seeking to travel to Kenya must enter their details in an online platform that the government will unveil soon," Sing'oei said.
"Once the applicant's details are in the portal, Kenya, in partnership with the source country, will conduct a security check on the applicant before a decision is made whether to grant that person access, or not," the PS said, adding that the decision will be communicated to the applicant after the check.
Sing'oei said applicants will have to wait for "a week or two" to know the fate of their applications, and that no fee will be needed to get the digital authorisation.
The PS added that "finer details" on what will be keyed into the digital platform before a person is granted entry into Kenya will be communicated soon "after the government holds an inter-ministerial meeting."
Contemplated for long
Kenya's decision to lure more foreigners to the country is one that has been contemplated for a long time.
In April 2009, the administration of the then-President Mwai Kibaki slashed by half visa fees for adults, and exempted children under 16 from paying the charges.
That move, the government said, would encourage more tourists to visit Kenya.
In July 2011, the then-Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta reintroduced full visa fees, saying the immigration department had incurred high administrative costs. The prices have remained unchanged ever since.
New visa fees put on hold
According to the government, a single-entry visa currently costs $50 while a multiple-entry visa costs $100.
In early November 2023, Kenya announced plans to double the visa processing fees, but the plan has been put on hold.
The decision to scrap visa requirement and visa processing fees would leave Ruto's government with a revenue hole, given the government in recent times collected at least 10 billion Kenyan shillings ($65.2 million) from immigration services alone.
For a president who has been keen on improving Kenya's revenue collection since coming to office in September 2022, Ruto is optimistic that the abolition of visa requirement would increase tourist traffic to Kenya.
Tourism in numbers
The East African nation is yet to hit the tourism record of 2019, when it raised 296.2 billion shillings ($1.93 billion) in revenue.
In 2022, the country, which has animal parks, historical sites, indigenous culture, and vast shorelines, collected 268.1 billion shillings ($1.75 billion) from tourism. At least 1.5 million tourists visited the country that year.
But even as Kenya looks toward more tourist numbers, and possibly business opportunities, concerns have been raised about the implication of scrapping visa requirement.
Some skeptics say that the rigorous scrutiny of travellers, including criminal record search, conducted during visa processing ensured that only law-abiding foreign citizens were allowed to travel to Kenya.
'Tool of self-love and pride'
"The government's decision (on visa) has serious security implications. Visas, world-over, are not only for facilitating travel, and raising revenue for governments, but also to ensure the host country's security is not breached," Macharia Munene, a professor of international relations at the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) in Nairobi told TRT Afrika.
"Even during the visa regime, the visitors who intended to travel to Kenya, did so anyway, with or without charging a fee, or setting tough conditions," he added.
Gitile Naituli, a professor of leadership at the Multimedia University of Kenya, said "diplomacy is reciprocal."
"You only grant visa-free entry to countries that extend the same exemption to you. As a government, you should not allow everyone to enter your country. Visas are tools of self-love and pride. Borders should only be opened to people after much thought and consideration," Naituli said.
Integrated criminal records database
Kenya's Tourism Minister Alfred Mutua told TRT Afrika that the government will rely on an integrated criminal records database to weed out suspicious travellers, allaying fears that people with questionable character will be allowed to enter Kenya.
"Out of all foreign travellers, 99.9 per cent are good people. Only 0.1 per cent are bad people. We will check the integrated criminal records system before letting any foreigner into Kenya," he said.
The other concern expressed is: How many countries are willing to reciprocate Kenya's generosity? In Africa, there are 20 countries that grant Kenyans visa-free entry, while 15 offer visa on arrival.
Globally, there are at least 76 destinations that Kenyan passport holders can access without a visa.
