ZAMBIA VISA BONANZA MUST BE REVISITED
…to accomodate Zambians travelling abroad–ANTHONY MUKWITA
23.12.24
Zambia should have arrived at a ‘ win-win’ platform that allows Zambians to benefit from free entry visa status in the new 53 countries the southern African nation has granted free visa entry bonanza status says Anthony Mukwita.
Ambassador Anthony Mukwita, an International Relations pundit and published author said there is nothing fair in Zambia allowing citizens of 53 nations to enjoy visa free status when ordinary Zambians do not have the same privilege.
“In diplomacy there’s a thing called reciprocity and or quid pro quo that must override every deal a country seals,” Ambassador Mukwita said in an interview, “ it makes no sense for Zambia to give a free visa status to 167 nations when it can only access a handful of them…where is the reciprocity?”
Amb. Mukwita who has represented Zambia in more than a dozen European countries over a period of almost a decade said security concerns must also take precedence when granting visa advantages to foreign partnering nations above economic gains.
“You can have short term economic gains but in the absence of security or rather when your national security might be exposed to a risk, you want to step back and seal the loop holes,” said Mukwita.
He was speaking during the breakfast show live on the widely followed Diamond TV programme close to Christmas eve following Home Affairs Ministers Jack Mwiimbu’s announcement that Zambia was opening visa flood-gates for 53 new nations bringing the count to 167.
Ambassador Mukwita while commending President Hichilema for the ‘ open-door’ visa policy advised the government to make Zambia safe in the process.
He also advised the government to maximise visa free entry engagements with the Africa Union, SADC and COMESA before opening doors to Christmas Island, Vanuatu, Iceland and Greenland, Liechtenstein or Guam for that matter.
Source: Amb Anthony Mukwita
I agree with you
For the first time I have agreed with Amb. Mukwita. Need to revisit the olive branch gesture for a win win.
Totally in agreement
Yes that may be true but somebody has to start first. If both of you keep waiting for the other to start then it will never happen. So in this case Zambia has taken the first step. It’s now up to the other countries to reciprocate. If in a given time frame, say one year they do not reciprocate then this policy can be reversed for the countries that have not reciprocated in kind while the countries that responded favorably can continue to enjoy such privileges.
True