LAURA MITI DENIED ENTRY IN ETHIOPIA
Civil Society activist Laura Miti has been denied entry into Ethiopia over her failure to produce a valid visa payment.
Miti had travelled to Ethiopia on Sunday to attend a human commission rights conference.
However airport authorities at Bole International demanded for proof that she had paid for the visa.
Miti produced a receipt for online payment which could not be authenticated.
She spent a night at the airport and when the matter could not be resolved in the morning, she chose to return to Zambia than pay another $75.
Below is her story posted on her Facebook Page.
Mvelankoni travel drama, the kind a hacker would tell.
Arrived in Ethiopia, this evening, for a Human Rights Commission workshop.
Their immigration has refused to accept the receipt for the visa payment I made online.
First, they say I must pay again. Was not happy with that because I am broke.
Anyway, turns out paying would not help because they asked for a letter from their Immigration endorsing the invitation. The letter must be in their language.
I don’t have that letter. They say – you will sleep here. Not a care. I guess it’s something they do often to people.
Elo, I had said that the Ethiopian visa was best paid for on arrival, because online did not work for me last time. The organisers, however, insisted to the HRC Secretariat that participants pay online.
They promised they would be at the airport to ensure smooth entry
Well, all their phones are off.
So here’s me – pa chair nakatenge for the night.
Ungayewe natuma lodge tuja twaku rural Zambia, twamene nimanene.
Not following up on the visa thing. Nilinakwatu. The way I appreciated my bed while trying to get some kind of comfortable on a chair last night! Nati mwandi I have stopped taking you for granted.
Queued up for change of ticket as soon as Ethiopian Airways opened their desk. They wanted me to pay a penalty to change my ticket to today.
Then, when they consulted their manager, he happened to have lived in Zambia, Ndola, for 4 years.
He said- to me Zambians are nice people – then instructed the lady to find me a seat at no cost.
Mwaona ka – our goodness is not wasted.
RFM