Are
travel advisories the new cane for punishing African countries?
The west and other major powers in
enticing African countries use all kinds of beguiling adjectives and
descriptive nouns; epitome of peace, panacea or the bastion of democracy, a
stable country in a relatively volatile region or most recently due to the
sustained economic growth and development some African countries have overnight
been renamed as the ‘’the lion on the move’’, the ‘’new Singapore of Africa’’.
All this are just but a few of the vocabularies that are employed in describing
African countries. These terms are just short lived praises that can change
overnight and are only used when the interests of those states are at stake.
The same countries that are described with terms such as bastion, epitome of
tranquility and a peaceful country can change radically and overnight without
any kind of warning when sporadic travel warnings and advisories are issued by
our friends in the west.
Yesterday the UK issued a travel
advisory following the Eastleigh grenade blast near St. Teresas church on
Sunday, just hours after the attack the UK had already ‘’ reviewed and reissued with amendments to the Travel Summary...’’
and ‘’we advise against all but essential travel to within..’’
Just this year, 2012 Kenya has been
slapped with more travel advisories than ever; any incidence that happens must
be followed closely with an advisory. These advisories have a two pronged
effect on the country besides portraying the country in a bad light
internationally in that the nationals from those major powers in the country at
the time the travel warning is issued will 1. Either leave or not enjoy their
stay and 2. Those with plans of visiting the country will cancel their trips to
Kenya. And since Kenya depends heavily on tourism as a major contributor to its
economy, the travel advisories greatly affect its budget and income forecasts.
Just a simple Google search shows that different international major powers
most commonly the US, Britain and Australia have issued travel advisories for
the flowing months in 2012 alone.
- January 7th
- January 11th
- January 16th
- April 4th
- June23rd
- July 5th
- July 9th
- August 28th
- October 5th
- November 19th
The travel advisories are not any different and are full of
the usual cliché with only the dates being changed
‘’an imminent threat of a terrorist attack…….’’
‘’this is to alert all US citizens in Kenya, or planning to
travel to Kenya in the near future, that the U.S Embassy in Nairobi has
received information of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in……’’
This trend is continuing and has no
signs of ending anytime soon, even when Kenya triumphs the terror and barbaric
attacks the UK has already issued an ‘’exercise extra caution and vigilance’’
statement ahead of our 4th March elections.
‘’General and Presidential
elections are due to take place on 4 March 2013. Significant violence after the
last elections in 2007/2008 left 1,100 dead and 600,000 displaced. We
advise British nationals to exercise extra caution and vigilance, particularly
in public places. ‘’
It will take several years before
Kenya can get itself out of all this bad publicity that are resulting from all
this warnings and travel advisories. The government should intensify the
security situation and the Kenyan people should also be very vigilant and
undertake community police roles to ensure that we are indeed safe.
Australia
Australia
Issues travel advisory on citizens
Updated Tuesday, August 28 2012
''Australia has advised its citizens
to avoid parts of Mombasa following the killing of Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo.
“Further civil unrest is likely and Australians in the area should avoid all
public gatherings and monitor local media for updates on the security
situation,”''
''This Advice was last issued on Friday, 05 October 2012
“…We also continue to strongly advise Australians not to travel to the area
north of Pate Island in Lamu District, border regions with Somalia, Ethiopia
and South Sudan, because of the extremely dangerous security situation.”
America
July
9th
“The U.S. government continues to
receive information about potential terrorist threats aimed at U.S., Western,
and Kenyan interests in Kenya. Terrorist acts can include suicide operations,
bombings, kidnappings, attacks on civil aviation, and attacks on maritime
vessels in or near Kenyan ports,”
UK
Still current at: 19 November 2012issued just yesterday.
