Abolish entry visas

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday announced the abolition of entry visas between Mozambique and Kenya.Speaking at a business forum in Maputo between the two countries, Kenyatta, who was on a state visit, revealed that during their official talks earlier in the day the delegations of the two governments had agreed to scrap entry visas.

“As from now, you can visit your brothers in Kenya”, Kenyatta told the Mozambican business people. “You can go and do business without needing visas”.

He gave no details. The visa waiver agreements that Mozambique has reached in the past (mostly with fellow members of the Southern African Development Community, SADC) cover visits of up to 30 days.

Kenyatta added that the two governments have agreed to increase the number of flights between the two countries. Both Mozambique Airlines (LAM) and Kenya Airways operate regular flights between Maputo and Nairobi – but the Mozambican authorities were eager to suggest that Kenya Airways could add the northern Mozambican city of Nacala to its schedule.

The Mozambican Minister of Industry and Trade, Ragendra de Sousa, told reporters that Nacala could be a hub for the entire region.But at the moment Nacala is a ghost airport. Inaugurated in 2014 by the then Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, it has never attracted any international airlines. The only airline currently flying to Nacala is LAM, with two return flights from Maputo a week. That, plus the occasional charter flight, is the full extent of business in what was built as a modern international airport with the capacity for half a million passengers a year.During the talks, the Mozambican delegation also thanked the Kenyan government for offering Kenyan citizenship to the substantial Mozambican community living in Kenya. Mozambicans, mostly from the Makonde tribe in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, were recruited decades ago to work on plantations in Kenya, and many opted to stay.Not only has Kenyatta’s government made them Kenyan citizens but it has also recognised the Makondes as Kenya’s 43rd official tribe.