By HARRIET MUGO
Kenyans will enjoy free visa to travel to South Africa starting January 2023.
In a joint address after holding bilateral talks at State House, Nairobi, Presidents William Ruto and Cyril Ramaphosa have announced the new resolutions today.
Under the new regulations, Kenyans will enter the second-largest economy in Africa visa-free for up to 90 days each year.
“Kenyans holding ordinary passports will be allowed to enter South Africa on a visa-free regime for up to 90 days per calendar year,” President Ruto announced.
The two leaders said they had loosened the existing stringent immigration policies between Kenya and South Africa in a bid to boost continental trade.
“With the view of allowing Kenyans to visit South Africa on a free-visa basis, we have discussed the thorny issue of visas. We agreed that indeed that Kenyans should be able to visit South Africa without requiring them to have visas. This will commence on the 1st of January 2023. Our officials will speed up the processes to implement this move,” said Preident Ramaphosa.
At the same time, the two Heads of State said they had agreed on a returns policy in instances of breach of immigration laws and regulations of both countries.
They 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 Kenya and South Africa.
