Faith Nyasuguta
Kenyans holding ordinary passports will be granted entry to South Africa following a new visa-free regime between the two countries.
According to President William Ruto on Wednesday, the deal had been arrived at, after an intervention by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“From January 1, 2023, we will have a different regime. Kenyans holding ordinary passports will be allowed to enter South Africa on a Visa-free regime for up to 90 days per calendar year,” Ruto said.
He spoke when he hosted Ramaphosa at the Kenyan State House.
The President said they had also agreed on a return policy when immigration laws and policies are breached.
This will help ensure that “bad elements” that try to infiltrate the states’ borders are dealt with by the policies.
The two Presidents discussed issues on matters of trade, to promote and enhance importation and exportation.
“President Ramaphosa and I have also agreed to develop a sustainable mechanism to identify, monitor and resolve non-tariff barriers that limit the trade potential between our two countries,” he said.
Last year, President Ramaphosa and former President Uhuru Kenyatta started talks to relax visa restrictions for Kenyans visiting South Africa.
However, this was on condition that Kenya takes back thousands of its citizens who accessed South Africa illegally.
Visa restrictions have remained a thorny issue for the two countries for years and include around $53.50 processing fee.
The Visas take at least five days to be processed by the South African government.
South African nationals, have it easier getting a Kenyan Visa for free on arrival to the country.
During their meeting earlier, Ruto and Ramaphosa also signed four instruments of cooperation to enhance relations between Kenya and South Africa.
These include three Memoranda of Understanding and one agreement on cooperation in the fields of correctional service, cooperation in the fields of housing and human settlement, cooperation between the Kenya School of Government and the National School of Government from South Africa and the agreement of audio-visual co-production.
Ramaphosa has affirmed that the two countries will continue working together to strengthen their relations.
