How ironic is it that in 2026, governments are asking their citizens and those of neighbouring countries not to cross borders?One day, a friend of mine convinced me that since things were not working out well in Kenya, we could cross the border and do some consultancy work in a neighbouring country.
As we drove towards the border, we kept reciting the famous African proverb, “Let the young man in his desperation go out and hunt. If he kills the elephant, his poverty ends. If the elephant kills him, his poverty ends.”
Sooner than expected, we were at the border post. Then came the challenges. One after the other. Right at the border post, I came face to face with the triple constraints of travelling in Africa: be patient when you have the right documentation, grease an officer’s hands when you are not sure, or go back home. I won’t go into much detail.
The second hurdle was transportation. We could not drive into the land of hope with our car, and we could not find a cheap taxi either. So, we boarded a public matatu and headed off to our hunting ground.
Every 200 metres, the matatu would stop at a police and army roadblock, and our belongings would be rummaged through piece by piece. All foreigners would be asked to produce their identity cards and explain where they were going.
Soon after, all goods believed by the officers to be contraband were confiscated without question. Believe me when I say that throughout the journey, we sat with our hands between our legs, wondering in despair why the elephant would want to kill us before we had even arrived.
Somehow, we survived and safely arrived at our destination. We thanked God repeatedly. No sooner had we stopped to catch our breath and meet our host at a hotel than a power-wielding man walked in, escorted by four army officers.
Straight to our table he came. He introduced himself as a government minister. We froze. He asked us to explain what we were up to. Fortunately, after the explanation by our host, he warmed up to us and encouraged us to continue with our endeavours.
Early the following morning, we boarded the first matatu back to the border. At the border on home soil, after two cold drinks had irrigated his throat, my friend who had taken me hunting exclaimed, “Uuuh! I better die in my country”.
Humans move across borders for many reasons. Population growth, land shortages, internal conflicts and the search for fertile grounds to thrive. Every day, we have people moving from urban to rural areas, from rural areas to urban settings, from one county to another and from one country to another. Human movement is not a new phenomenon.
In Genesis 2:15, the Bible says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." Not long after, in Genesis 3:23, the holy book says “Therefore theLord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden.”
Abraham, the father of faith, moved multiple times. Initially, his move from Haran to Canaan was an act of direct obedience to God’s call. Later on, severe famine and land disputes caused him to move several times. The Israelites journeyed for 40 years from Egypt to Canaan, running away from enslavement.
Those who have studied a bit of history know that all of us, from whichever ethnolinguistic group we belong to, be it Bantus, Cushitic or Nilotic, are not settled on our original land.
Fast forward to the 1960s, the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan conceptualised the term ‘global village’. In its simplest definition, a global village refers to a social and cultural system where people from all over the world live in one village by easily sharing information, ideas and culture.
In 1983, a Harvard Business School professor, Theodore Levitt, popularised the term ‘globalisation', referring to a world where national borders were becoming less restrictive to the flow of people, goods, services, money, technology and ideas. How ironic is it that in 2026, governments are asking their citizens and those of neighbouring countries not to cross borders?
People will continue to look for education, work, opportunities, peace and sociopolitical networks across borders. Governments should deeply consider investing in technology and data systems. Such systems can allow individuals to register their details, while governments securely collect and store information on citizens, visitors, their movements and activities.
With appropriate data protection safeguards, such systems can support better coordination across borders. In cases of cross-border pandemics or crime, government officials could, at the click of a button and through secure integration with neighbouring countries, trace relevant individuals, contacts and activities across borders. This would make our borders smarter, safer and more responsive.
Although McLuhan had already seen in the 1960s that the global village was not a “harmonious utopia”, today’s technology can help us deal with the sudden panic about our neighbours crossing borders.
The writer is a Postdoctoral Fellow
