With the addition of Kenya on the UK’s red list, almost all African members of the Commonwealth are prohibited from travelling to Britain. Only Uganda and Nigeria are not banned by the UK. These developments raise doubts about the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled for the week of 21 June 2021 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The Covid19 pandemic is sharply increasing tensions in the Commonwealth. Uganda is the only East African member of the Commonwealth not red-listed by the UK after the British government added Kenya to banned countries. Rwanda and Tanzania are already on the UK red list. Kenya immediately retaliated. Starting April 9, 2021, passengers from the UK to Kenya will be required to produce negative a Covid19 certificate and a Covid19 vaccine certification. Passengers from the UK will then go through mandatory seven-day isolation after entering Kenya.
With the addition of Kenya to the UK’s red list, almost all African members of the Commonwealth are prohibited from travelling to Britain. Only Uganda and Nigeria are not banned by the UK. These developments raise doubts about the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which was to have been held in Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2020 but was postponed because of the Covid19. The new CHOGM date is the week of 21 June 2021.
By David Himbara
