By Faith Nyasuguta
Those holding Kenyan passports have been banned from accessing 54 nations in the wake of Covid-19.
This is according to the Henley Passport Index, which has been tracking the globe’s most travel-friendly passports since 2016.
Nations that top the list on banning Kenyan passport holders include Argentina, Australia, Canada, Cambodia, UK, Belgium, Singapore, Bulgaria, and Portugal.
Others include Chile, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Czech Republic, and Cameroon which is the only African nation restricting Kenyan citizens.
The Kenyan passport also lost its muscle in the continent after dropping from position nine to 11 where Tanzania and Ghana also lie.
In a recent revelation by Kenya’s health ministry, the highly infectious delta variant could spark the fourth wave in Kenya in the next two months.
The variant, first discovered in India, has dominated the Western part of Kenya, the place it was first detected in the nation.
Kenya has thus imposed stringent measures on movement across the region in a bid to reduce its spread to other areas.
“Borders remain firmly closed in several countries, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, while many others continue to ban travelers from high-risk regions,” the Henley & Partners report said.
Despite the restrictions against Kenya, it has not reciprocated against the 54 nations as it only directed citizens from a few nations to quarantine before accessing Kenya in the last review.
The nations restricted by Kenya include Ireland, Kuwait, Pakistan Brunei, and Thailand whose citizens must undergo a two-week mandatory quarantine.
Currently, most nations are bracing to quash restrictions on travelers that have received both Covid-19 jabs.
In Kenya, some 1.53 million citizens have received Covid jab with 511,520 having received their second doses.
Kenya is set to receive some 13 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses starting August and aims at vaccinating over 10 million people before January and the adult population by December 2022.
