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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017 Arusha
Kenya plans to establish a customs and immigration office along the disputed Maasai MaraSerengeti border, raising questions on how will the project work without the involvement of Tanzania.
The Kenyan government mid this month announced to establish the customs and immigration office at the Sand River Gate, a few metres from Bologonja border with Tanzania to ease the movement of tourists.
It is understood, Tanzania had denied Kenya’s tour operators to access its national parks through Bologonja border for 40 years now.
But Kenya’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said recently that the construction of the immigration office at $1 million would start soon to serve tourists travelling between the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
However, the Tanzania’s minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof Jumanne Maghembe, denied Tanzania being part of such arrangement. “We can’t interfere with the Kenya’s plan to establish customs and immigration office near Bologonja border, but such kind of plan could only work if both Kenya and Tanzania had discussed and agreed,” Prof Maghembe told this reporter over the phone.
Prof Maghembe said Tanzania was a sovereign country and its position over the Bologonja border entry remains the same, as it was when the border was closed.
Balala is quoted by the Daily Southern African Tourism Update as saying that the immigration office would clear tourists from Serengeti National Park who want to cross to Maasai Mara National Reserve or those from Maasai Mara who want to cross to Serengeti.
“Tourists will no longer need to travel all the way to Wilson Airport in Nairobi to go through the immigration procedures before being allowed into the Mara,” said Balala.
He explained that in the past, tourists from Kenya encountered challenges accessing Serengeti because the Tanzanian authorities had not relaxed rules to allow free movement.
Previously, he recalled, tourists also had to use the NarokNairobi or KisiiMigoriIsebania routes to access the Namanga border point to Tanzania.
Narok governor Samuel Tunai said his county government would improve the main entrances that lead to the Maasai Mara National Reserve for wildlife lovers to easily access the park.
Bologonja, the border between Tanzania’s flagship Serengeti National Park and Maasai Mara Game Reserve of Kenya, was, until mid1970s, a convenient route for tourists yearning to visit the SerengetiMasai Mara ecosystem.
But following the collapse of the East African Community (EAC) in 1977, Tanzania closed all its border posts with Kenya for nearly seven years.
However, Tanzania changed its mind in mid1980s and opened its main entry points to tourist traffic save for the Bologonja border, which remains closed to date.
Way back in 1985, the two countries signed the tourism agreement cooperation after the Arusha Summit of November16th, 1983, where it was agreed that respective local operators would only access all tourism attractions.
Article X (b), Tanzania and Kenya agreed that tourists should be transported in and out of each country through designated border posts or regional towns. Since then, the authorized border crossing points have been, Namanga, Sirari and Isebania, Holili and Taveta, and Horohoro and Lungalunga from Tanzanian and Kenyan sides respectively. The move had compelled tourists to endure nearly fivehour drive from Maasai Mara via the designated IsebaniaSirari border point to Serengeti Park.
http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Bu...1m-project/1840414-3824642-oe9j3jz/index.html
Kenya plans to establish a customs and immigration office along the disputed Maasai MaraSerengeti border, raising questions on how will the project work without the involvement of Tanzania.
The Kenyan government mid this month announced to establish the customs and immigration office at the Sand River Gate, a few metres from Bologonja border with Tanzania to ease the movement of tourists.
It is understood, Tanzania had denied Kenya’s tour operators to access its national parks through Bologonja border for 40 years now.
But Kenya’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said recently that the construction of the immigration office at $1 million would start soon to serve tourists travelling between the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
However, the Tanzania’s minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof Jumanne Maghembe, denied Tanzania being part of such arrangement. “We can’t interfere with the Kenya’s plan to establish customs and immigration office near Bologonja border, but such kind of plan could only work if both Kenya and Tanzania had discussed and agreed,” Prof Maghembe told this reporter over the phone.
Prof Maghembe said Tanzania was a sovereign country and its position over the Bologonja border entry remains the same, as it was when the border was closed.
Balala is quoted by the Daily Southern African Tourism Update as saying that the immigration office would clear tourists from Serengeti National Park who want to cross to Maasai Mara National Reserve or those from Maasai Mara who want to cross to Serengeti.
“Tourists will no longer need to travel all the way to Wilson Airport in Nairobi to go through the immigration procedures before being allowed into the Mara,” said Balala.
He explained that in the past, tourists from Kenya encountered challenges accessing Serengeti because the Tanzanian authorities had not relaxed rules to allow free movement.
Previously, he recalled, tourists also had to use the NarokNairobi or KisiiMigoriIsebania routes to access the Namanga border point to Tanzania.
Narok governor Samuel Tunai said his county government would improve the main entrances that lead to the Maasai Mara National Reserve for wildlife lovers to easily access the park.
Bologonja, the border between Tanzania’s flagship Serengeti National Park and Maasai Mara Game Reserve of Kenya, was, until mid1970s, a convenient route for tourists yearning to visit the SerengetiMasai Mara ecosystem.
But following the collapse of the East African Community (EAC) in 1977, Tanzania closed all its border posts with Kenya for nearly seven years.
However, Tanzania changed its mind in mid1980s and opened its main entry points to tourist traffic save for the Bologonja border, which remains closed to date.
Way back in 1985, the two countries signed the tourism agreement cooperation after the Arusha Summit of November16th, 1983, where it was agreed that respective local operators would only access all tourism attractions.
Article X (b), Tanzania and Kenya agreed that tourists should be transported in and out of each country through designated border posts or regional towns. Since then, the authorized border crossing points have been, Namanga, Sirari and Isebania, Holili and Taveta, and Horohoro and Lungalunga from Tanzanian and Kenyan sides respectively. The move had compelled tourists to endure nearly fivehour drive from Maasai Mara via the designated IsebaniaSirari border point to Serengeti Park.
http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Bu...1m-project/1840414-3824642-oe9j3jz/index.html
