Narok seeks border office in Mara

The Narok County government is in talks with the East African Community Affairs ministry to have a customs and immigration office set up at Sand River Gate at the border with Tanzania for free movement of tourists between the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and Serengeti National Park.

Governor Samuel Tunai said the office would make it easier for visitors to tour the two parks at the border.

In the past, tourists encountered challenges accessing Serengeti because the Tanzanian authorities have not relaxed rules to allow for free movement of people and goods. Tourists also had to use the Narok-Nairobi or Kisii-Migori-Isebania routes to access the Namanga border point to Tanzania.

“Talks are at an advanced stage to ensure that tourists in the Mara and Serengeti move freely within the borders,” said Mr Tunai, urging Tanzania to relax other rules like production of vaccination certificates by visitors wishing to visit the country.

Kenya Tourists Drivers and Guides Association vice chairman Andrew Mungatana welcomed the move, but said Tanzanian authorities have not been cooperative. He added that had the two countries agreed on free movement of people, tourism would have been thriving in the region.

Mr Mungatana called on the government to engage Tanzanian authorities to stop harassing Kenyans and allow tourists from Serengeti to visit the reserve unhindered.

“Even during the migration of wildebeests from Serengeti plains to Mara, the management of Tanzania national parks have in the past started fires to scare them from accessing the game reserve. It is an act of sabotage because our national economy depends on these animals,” he said.

Kenyan hoteliers seeking to work in Tanzania have also complained that work permits, which are costly, take long to process, adding that policies which hinder trade should be done away with.