Kenyan journalist Lynn Ngugi has questioned in a post on X why Africans should hold back their views on Western countries for fear of losing the chance to travel there.
“This idea that I should be worried about getting a visa to America simply because I have an opinion is actually part of the problem we need to address as Africans.”
‘Made to believe’
Ngugi said the fear had kept many people quiet.
“For the longest time, we have been made to believe that criticizing these so called ‘first world countries’ might cost us an opportunity to visit them, and sadly, that fear has kept so many people silent,” she wrote.
Ngugi questions the power attached to visas
Ngugi also questioned the cost of visa applications. She argued that applicants can spend large sums without any guarantee of being admitted to their destination country.
She suggested the restrictions leave people anxious about losing access to countries they hope to visit. In her view, that anxiety could shape what they are willing to say in public.
“I have always believed that these visa restrictions exist by design. You make people so desperate for access to your country that they become afraid to question you, while making millions from visa applications that don’t even guarantee entry.”
She also pointed to what she sees as an imbalance between African and Western nations. Some African countries welcome visitors from abroad, she noted, while their own citizens face barriers when travelling overseas.
Her remarks are a personal view on visa policy and the influence it can give destination countries over prospective travellers.
Calls for Africans to speak freely
Ngugi said Africans had for too long let access to Western countries influence how they speak about those nations.
She also described what she sees as a double standard. Westerners, she said, can criticize African countries freely, while Africans may fear consequences for voicing similar views.
“Meanwhile, we are busy welcoming citizens of these same countries into our nations, some without even requiring a visa,” she wrote.
“Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but the winds of change will blow across Africa. We will make Africa Great Again!!” she added.
She concluded by expressing hope that Africans would one day speak their minds without worrying about the effect on their ability to travel.
