The UAE has for the last two weeks denied many Kenyans including a cabinet minister, MPs and business people entry visas to Dubai on flimsy grounds.
Hundreds of Kenyan traders flock to Dubai to buy electronics, textiles, household goods, mobile phones and industrial products which are available at fair prices since it is a free port.
Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya and his personal assistant were last week denied entry into Dubai for several hours - even though the minister holds a diplomatic passport.
It took the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi for Oparanya who was travelling back from New York to be allowed in.
Members of Parliament's Committee on Implementation, which is chaired by Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau, were denied visas in Nairobi last week but were allowed in when they applied on arrival at Dubai International Airport.
"They denied us visas when we applied in Nairobi but when we arrived in Dubai on Thursday they issued them to us. We were told that the UAE was very upset because of some arrests that were made so they decided to retaliate by denying Kenyans visas," said joint Government chief whip Jakoyo Midiwo who was in the delegation.
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President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga have intervened to resolve a diplomatic row sparked by a new visa regulation set by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
ReplyDeleteForeign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang’ula met Kibaki and Raila at State House, Nairobi, Wednesday where they held a three-hour meeting over the issue. "The two leaders have mandated me to resolve the current visa crisis in the next two days and if the matters does not become positive I will travel to Dubai to meet my Foreign Affairs counterpart," he said.
Speaking at a Nairobi hotel, Wetang’ula said ministers, MPs and ordinary Kenyans seeking visa to visit Dubai have faced various hitches in the past week.
"Let us not focus on the deportation saga but find ways of ending the simmering diplomatic tiff," he said.
Separately, Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’ said the Government will settle the diplomatic standoff between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates over the new visa rules.
"I can’t blame the UAE for the move. I think we will negotiate and come to a settlement," he said during a press conference at his Nyayo House offices in Nairobi Wednesday.
He said it was embarrassing for him because neither he nor his officials were involved in the deportation of the four UAE citizens last month over allegations they were linked to terrorism.
"As the minister in charge of Immigration I am the one who is supposed to have deported them. But neither I nor my officers were involved in this," said Mr Kajwang’.
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