Kenya

East Africa: Single Tourist Visa Will Cover Five Countries

Date: April 1st, 2009 |

Five countries in East Africa have agreed to issue a single tourist visa for travel throughout the region. The new visa will allow tourists to move freely among the member countries of the East African Community: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The group is setting a common code of conduct for tour operators, establishing [read more]

Kenya: U.S. State Department Softens Travel Warning

Date: March 26th, 2008 |

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The U.S. State Department has softened its warning about travel to Kenya following the widely-accepted power-sharing agreement signed Feb. 28 to resolve the disputed presidential election of Dec. 27. The current travel warning says “threats of political demonstrations and violence have dramatically receded” and U.S. government personnel and their families are now permitted to return [read more]

Kenya: Political Crisis, Violence Continue

Date: January 30th, 2008 |

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Violence stemming from Kenya’s disputed presidential election continued to plague the country, especially in the Rift Valley. Naivasha, a town popular with tourists and expatriates just 55 miles northwest of Nairobi, was overrun by murderous gangs over the weekend and tourists had to be escorted to Nairobi from nearby lodges. The killing of an opposition [read more]

Kenya: Post-Election Violence Plagues Country

Date: January 2nd, 2008 |

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Several days of violence following disputed national elections occurred in Nairobi, the Rift Valley and the coastal resort of Mombasa, prompting the U.S State Department to discourage all but essential travel to Kenya, and the British Foreign Office to warn against travel to several specific areas, including downtown Nairobi. Some 300 people have been killed, [read more]

Kenya: Kidnap Threat on Kiwayu Island; Possible Election Violence

Date: October 3rd, 2007 |

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The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi warned that Islamic extremists from Somalia may be planning to kidnap Westerners, especially U.S. citizens, on beaches in the Kiwayu Island tourist area and other beach sites on the northeast coast near Somalia. Kiwayu is in the Lamu archipelago, an area popular with Western travelers. The Embassy urged Americans to [read more]

Kenya: Peace Corps Back in Kenya

Date: August 27th, 2008 |

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The temporary suspension of the U.S. Peace Corps program in Kenya has been lifted and volunteers are now back in the country. The program was suspended during unrest surrounding the disputed presidential election in December that was finally resolved by a power-sharing agreement signed on Feb. 28. Both parties are adhering to the terms of [read more]

Kenya: Violence Prompts Peace Corps to Suspend Operations

Date: February 7th, 2008 |

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Ongoing post-election violence that has often become ethnic prompted the U.S. Peace Corps to suspend its operations in Kenya. The Peace Corps announced the decision Feb. 5 to withdraw its remaining 58 volunteers after sending home 86 in January. Tourism has dropped to a trickle and foreign companies are considering pulling out, which would deal [read more]

Kenya: Post-Election Crisis Continues

Date: January 10th, 2008 |

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The post-election violence that raged for several days diminished and a reconciliation appeared to be developing between the incumbent president and opposition leader, both of whom feel they are the duly elected president of Kenya. Everything unraveled again, however, Jan. 8 when incumbent President Mwai Kibaki unilaterally named several cabinet ministers to the government. Riots [read more]

Kenya: Election Violence and Crime in Mombasa

Date: December 6th, 2007 |

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More than 14 million of Kenya’s 35 million citizens are registered to vote in the Dec. 27 election for a new president, parliament and local councils. As in past elections, this campaign has been plagued by violence. Since July, 35 people have been killed in election-related incidents, 13 in the last couple of weeks, and [read more]

Kenya: Threat to Games in Mombasa

Date: March 7th, 2007 |

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Islamic leaders have threatened to disrupt the World Cross Country Championship in Mombasa March 24 unless the Kenyan government releases Kenyans being held by police on suspicion of terrorism links. The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi also warned that the games may be the target of a terrorist attack, but had no details of the possible [read more]