Kenya will abolish visa requirements for all visitors from January 2024, making it a visa-free country, President William Ruto has announced.
The latest development means that all citizens of the world will no longer need a visa to visit the country.
The move follows the President’s announcement that Kenya will open its borders to visa-free travel for Africans by the end of December 2023.
Speaking at the 60th Jamhuri Day celebrations at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi on Tuesday, the president said the government would abolish the visa requirement for all visitors to Kenya from January 2024.
The effect of the landmark move will be that no person from any corner of the world will need to apply for a visa to enter Kenya.
To implement the new policy, the state has developed a digital platform to ensure that all travellers to Kenya are pre-identified on an electronic platform.
This means that all travellers will only need to obtain an electronic travel permit before visiting the country known for its tourist attractions.
“It gives me great pleasure, as President of this extraordinary country, to make a historic announcement about the decision of the Government of Kenya. From January 2024, Kenya will be a visa-free country,” said Ruto.
“It shall no longer be necessary for any person from any corner of the world to bear the burden of applying for a visa to come to Kenya. To echo the call of the Turkana people to the world: “Tobong’u Lorre! Kenya has a simple message for humanity: Welcome home,” he added.
The move comes at a time when most countries are making progress in simplifying entry procedures and lifting restrictions on some other nations.
The new development is part of Kenya’s embrace of globalisation and opening of its borders to boost the country’s socio-economic development.
Ruto said Kenyans have never been afraid to embrace globalisation and have shown time and again that they are not afraid of the world beyond the country’s borders.
“Our world and the good in it belongs to those who are not afraid to embrace globalisation. We fearlessly venture abroad and warmly welcome our visitors from near and far.
“This is no accident. The scientific-historical story of early man is told by various archaeological sites in our country,” said Ruto.
“In short, we are the first home of all humanity and we joyfully embrace our ancestral role of welcoming humanity home. Kenya is the home of humanity, a scientific fact that fills us with pride and underscores our rich heritage,” he added.
Speaking at the Youth Connect Africa Summit on December 9, Dr Ruto argued that Africa should do away with visa requirements for its people.
He said visa requirements were introduced by European nations who have since abandoned them.
He said Kenya fully supports the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to create a borderless market for African entrepreneurs and businesses.
The AfCFTA, which will be established in 2021, will create a unified market for the continent’s 1.3 billion people with an estimated value of $3.4 trillion.
Ruto argued that the removal of visa requirements will further boost economic integration on the continent.
Citing the example of Europe, he said the continent of 450 million people had abolished visas for 27 countries.
“I am very convinced and we all know what borderless countries have done, the people who taught us about visas because we did not have visas, our good brothers from Europe came and taught us about visas and I addressed the European Parliament a few weeks ago,” he said.
Speaking in Congo-Brazzaville in October this year, Dr Ruto said Kenya would abolish visa requirements for all African visitors by the end of the year, arguing that “if people cannot travel, we all become net losers”.
“As Kenya, by the end of this year, no African will need a visa to come to Kenya. Our children from this continent should not be locked in borders in Europe and also locked in borders in Africa,” he said, as quoted by the BBC.
“It is time that we … realise that having visa restrictions among ourselves is working against us,” he added.
Only the Seychelles, Gambia and Benin allow all African citizens to enter the continent without a visa, with Rwanda recently following in the footsteps of the three African countries.
