Two Kenyans denied entry into MW for failing to produce valid travel documents

Malawi: The immigration office at Songwe Border, in the northern lakeshore district of Karonga, refused two Kenyan nationals today, December 8, 2022, after they failed to produce valid travel documents.

The two presented themselves at the immigration counter, and officers conducted a routine examination of their passports, which revealed that their temporary travel documents are valid for travel in East Africa and South Sudan but not in Malawi.

Yusuf Shaibu, a spokesperson for the Songwe border, told AfricaBrief that further questioning revealed that the two were truck drivers planning to travel to Salima to offload goods.

According to Shaibu, they were then advised under Section 5(a) of the Immigration Act not to travel to Malawi. Their names are Michael Mukirai Thairu, 40, from Nairobi, Kenya, and James Kiman Njuguna, 60, also from Nairobi, Kenya.

Section 5(a) of the Immigration Act states that anyone who fails to produce a valid travel document issued by the government of Malawi or any other government and not recognised by the minister or the Immigration officer will be refused entry into Malawi.