Categories: Politics

Kenya Softens Stance on Visas, Allows Direct Flights from Mogadishu

It’s now possible to board a flight from Mogadishu to Nairobi directly. However, flights from other parts of Somali must still make a stopover and receive clearance in Wajir, a town in the northeast Kenya.

On November 25, Monica Juma, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Kenyan government, communicated the new changes in a recently published letter to the federal government of Somali. The changes followed talks between Uhuru Kenyatta and Mohamed Farmaajo, Presidents of Kenya and Somali respectively, which took place on November 14.

Juma asserted the decision by Kenya  to implement the issues the two countries agreed upon fully following the meeting by the respective presidents.

As for the visa issue, Kenya promised to grant Somalis who hold diplomatic and service passports and are on official engagement visas the moment they arrive, ‘as long as they are able to provide documentary evidence.’

Somalis holding similar types of passports who are not on any official engagement must apply for the visas before embarking on the trip to Kenya. The same rule applies to all Somalis who have no diplomatic or service passports.

Members of Parliament will get their visas issued upon arrival, but only if their names are provided beforehand.

The new changes occur after the two countries put their differences aside and resumed diplomatic relations after months of iciness towards each other.

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