Kenya passport falls in latest global rankings

Kenyan passport has dropped two places in the global mobility ranking to position 73 but maintained its spot as the eighth most powerful in the continent.

The Henley Passport Index Report released on Wednesday shows that the number of countries that Kenyans can visit without a visa, or obtain one on arrival increased to 73 from 72 last January.

The mobility score measures the number of countries that a person holding a Kenyan passport can visit without having a visa or the nations where they can get a visa on arrival.

Read: Kenya, Tanzania passports eighth most powerful in Africa

Mauritius, which is ranked 34th globally emerged at position one in Africa in the annual rankings produced in cooperation with International Air Transport Association.

It was followed by South Africa (53), Botswana (63), Namibia (67), Lesotho(69), eSwatini (71) and Malawi (72). Tanzania emerged in position 74 with Zambia and Uganda coming in at number 75 and 78, respectively, according to the report.

Japan’s passport is the strongest globally, allowing users visa-free access to 193 countries, followed by Singapore, South Korea, Germany and Spain.

Kenya rolled out chip-embedded passports for its citizens to combat rampant forgery and impersonation of holders.

The new features make it impossible for anyone to forge or duplicate a Kenyan passport.

Roll-out of the e-passports with a 10-year validity period marked the beginning of the end of the ‘analogue’ passports that have been in use since Independence and joined 60 other countries that use tamper-proof passports.