By BUSINESS DAILY

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Kenya has from the start of this year been retaining data of visitors suspected of crimes for up to five years under the visa-free travel plan that came into force from January 1.

This five-year cap is part of fresh regulations gazetted by Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, marking a departure from the previous policy where there is no set limit on the period that the State can retain the data of visitors who enter Kenya through the airports.

Kenya abolished the visa requirement for visitors on January 1, introducing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system where travellers must provide their data and reasons for visiting days before they arrive.

Read: Ruto's ETA: A visa by another name?

The State bets that the five-year period will offer all relevant agencies involved in investigations adequate time to conclude probes and ensure that suspects of crimes such as drug trafficking, smuggling and money laundering are easily tracked and arrested.

“The director shall keep advance passenger information data or passenger name record data in a database for a period not exceeding five years from the date of receipt of the data where that data is required for the investigation of the commission of specified offence specified in the 12th schedule or court proceedings” reads the Kenya citizenship and immigration (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

Kenya, from January 1, started allowing foreigners to fly in without visas, and instead now requires them to file personal data days before arrival, submitted to the Director of Immigration via the Electronic Travel Authorisation portal.

The data includes biographical information, travel itinerary and any other information about the visitor. Airlines are barred from onboarding passengers whose entry has not been authorised via the ETA portal.

Crimes included in the regulations include drug trafficking, murder, money laundering, terrorism, graft, illegal trade in human body parts, arms trafficking, piracy and customs offences among others.

Majority of the crimes mentioned above are cross-border, traditionally take long periods to probe and require joint probes between security agencies of different countries, highlighting why Kenya opted to legally provide the five-year deadline.

Visa-free entry was aimed at boosting visitor numbers for both leisure and business tourism and maintaining the upward trend as the country climbed out of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which disrupted travel.

Read: Kenya visa lift: Will it reduce Africa air ticket prices?

Official data shows that visitor arrivals in Kenya, excluding those in transit, increased 77.9 percent to 1,465,175 in 2022, up from 823,312 in the previous year. Most of them came by air for tourism or business.

But visa-free entry had fueled fears that people suspected of crimes in their home countries would easily enter Kenya through the airports, necessitating the need to get advance data on the visitors through the ETA portal.