East Africa single tourists’ visa proposal

Rwanda has come up with a proposal for a single visa in an effort to reduce on the inconveniences caused when tourists have to cross from one East Africa n country to another and this will also help improve on the number of visitors to the East African Community (EAC).

The proposal indicates that the tourists will need just one visa which they will acquire at the point of entry into EAC region which include countries like Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda, they will use  that same visa to access all the three countries without paying any extra fees or stopping into other embassies. During a June EAC Summit which was in Kampala, Rwanda was given the job of finding a compromise position that would be agreeable to all countries concerned.

Meanwhile, Rica Rwigamba who is the Head of Conservation and Tourism at Rwanda’s Development Board anticipates that the tourism sector will grow considerably if both the visa and the fee impediments are erased thus making travelling to East Africa less complicated.  Sources reveal that though delegates from Kenya and Uganda supported the use of a single visa proposal, there are some few obstacles that are still hindering its implementation.

Among the few challenge that are hindering the visa harmonization is the difference in the fees charged by the countries because  a single entry fees  is between  $5 to 50 while multiple entry fees is between  $50 to 100 depending on the country.  So the representative from Uganda and Kenya insisted that even with a single visa, the fees should not be abolished because they are an important source of national revenue but so far, there no firm decision that has been made though a compromise is expected soon so that they can move forward.

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