Amina Mohamed, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs
It’s great to hear that the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs has come out with this declaration. I’m pleased to read it and moreso because it challenges the government’s bureaucracy and legacy systems of interaction with members of the public.
I had an interesting turn of events in the last week or so that also brought this and more to my attention as I had to be in Sierra Leone for some mobile consumer research work. In getting the visa it was definitely unclear how things worked. So unclear (online) that I engaged a great travel agent friend of mine.
A website said we had to pay $40 to it via Paypal and I’d have all my visa needs ready in 3 working days (no more, no less) and the consulate here and their phone number, email and address on Mombasa Road ceased to exist – but you wouldn’t know this from
So along with Shirley, my travel agent, we decided to have someone go down to the ministry of foreign affairs and request for the information in person to find out which was the right procedure and who we were to pay for the visa and she was met with words I never thought I’d hear from the place we go as last resort – “I don’t know.” from the official she spoke to.
In the end after much ado about this I resolved to call Kenya Airways who fly there through Accra and they informed me that there was no visa required as Kenya had the same kind of agreement as with Ghana and other African states where we the governments allow citizens freedom to move between their countries.
All in all I’m glad the message has come from the top and I believe this is the path to change. I think as Twitter’s shown how the democratisation of information across the internet, culture, society and now government. I’m happy to contribute with feedback and insight and at the same time do my part in keeping the flow of information (good, bad and commentary) going as the road ahead requires work, commitment and openness.