Push for single visa

Vehicles at the Namanga Border post. PHOTO | FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• Having a single visa for the region serves numerous advantages because it gives tourists a wide range of offers
• Already, Tanzania has expressed its willingness to be included in the so-called coalition of the

Despite the problems that led to the delay in making a single East African visa a reality, the regional governments would do well to push forward with the plan and implement it at the earliest time possible.

Having a single visa for the region serves numerous advantages because it gives tourists a wide range of offers, from tracking mountain gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda to watching the wildebeest migration in the Mara.

The three countries would also do well to make transport connections by air, road and rail more efficient as these are key drivers of tourism, which has helped to push up tourist numbers.

And even as the three countries make this plan a reality, their leaders should consult with their Tanzanian and Burundian counterparts to bring them on board too in the spirit of the greater East Africa Community.

Already, Tanzania has expressed its willingness to be included in the so-called coalition of the willing, and it would be unfair to lock it out since its Serengeti National Park is adjacent to Kenya’s Maasai Mara Game Reserve, making it natural for inclusion.