Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — As Somalia prepares to officiall join the East African Community, the opportunities to reap membership benefits raise fears of bureaucratic hurdles aimed to enrich a few Somali businesses.
The Federal Government of Somalia is reportedly empowering certain businesses to introduce a process to apply for the Kenyan e-visa and visas of other EAC member countries through a company based in Mogadishu.
The Somali Foreign Ministry has reportedly communicated with the Kenyan Foreign Ministry about mandating a different process for the e-visa for applicants with a Somali passport, to increase the standard visa fee and to outsource processing the e-visa to a designated Somali company.
Some Somali businessmen have lobbied the Federal Government of Somalia to change the rules of business to add extra bureaucratic layers on several sectors. The cronyism could undercut Somalia’s membership in the East African Community. “Somali citizens have a right to benefit from the EAC membership in the same manner as the citizens of the member countries do. It is unfair to deny Somali citizens the privilege to apply for a Kenyan e-visa through the Kenya government network” said a Somali commercial lawyer based in Nairobi.
© Puntland Post, 2024
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