Country laws hampering East African single tourist visa

Tourists cruise on the Nile at the Murchison Falls National Park in northwestern Uganda. FILE PHOTO | MORGAN MBABAZI 

By KABONA ESIARA

In Summary

• The implementation of the East African multi-entry single tourist visa is being hampered by the differences in national visa policies and regimes in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.
• Stakeholders say member states are forcing tourists holding the pass to pay extra upon entry into their countries.
• The heads of state from the three countries launched the single tourism visa in February 2014 under the Northern Corridor Infrastructure Projects. The idea is to allow tourists to move freely within Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda without applying or paying for another visa.

The implementation of the East African multi-entry single tourist visa is being hampered by the differences in national visa policies and regimes in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.

Speaking at a recent stakeholder forum in Kigali, a senior tourism development officer from Uganda Anne Awori, said that member states are forcing tourists holding the pass to pay extra upon entry into their countries.

“We have come across many cases of officials asking tourists who have obtained the single entry visa from Uganda to pay entry fees in Rwanda or Kenya,” said Ms Awori. “A recent case is when Rwanda charged a 13-year-old tourist who was issued a regional visa from Uganda an additional $60.”

Earlier, Uganda had blamed Kenya and Rwanda for breaching the visa agreement by issuing their own local visas to tourists instead of the single EAC tourist visa. At one time, Ugandan tourism officials were quoted by the local media as threatening to pull out from the visa project.

“A visa is supposed to be issued by the first country of entry. For a Congolese for instance, Rwanda is their first entry country. But when we issue the visa, Uganda raises questions and makes them pay again for the pass,” said a Rwandan official.

The heads of state from the three countries launched the single tourism visa in February 2014 under the Northern Corridor Infrastructure Projects. The idea is to allow tourists to move freely within Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda without applying or paying for another visa. Tourism is a key foreign exchange earner for the three EAC member countries.

READ: Single tourist visa: Things to note

“The challenge that cuts across the region is the narrow range of tourism product,” said Antonio Pedro, director of United Nations Economic Commission for Eastern Africa.

Participants at the Kigali meeting said there was a need to pool resources to jointly market and develop the region’s tourism sector. The meeting was convened to help chart a way forward in addressing challenges facing the sector.

“We also have different levels of development and some countries do not prioritise tourism. We need to work together and market the region as a single destination,” said Grace Aulo, director of tourism at Uganda’s Ministry of Tourism.