Time to have one African Citizenship Passport
Some Civil Society attending the ongoing AU Summit in Accra, have called on African leaders and Governments to adopt one citizenship passport.
This they said would improve the traveling heckling, intimidations and obstacles that are meted on people traveling from one African country to the other.
Speaking on the perspective of African women, Mrs. Una Tumba Thompson, from Liberia said the citizenship passport would enable traders to move freely without hindrance.
She said the status of African women continue to deteriorate under war, conflict, deeply rooted economic, inequality, domestic violence, poverty, trauma, and cultural practices. “In spite of the continental instrument for change, women rights remain erosive”.
Mrs. Thompson urged leaders and governments to have commitment to unite African people across gender by upholding respect for women rights and equality and opportunity for both men and women.
She said there should be a guarantee for women to freely trade and work across state borders. With the citizenship passport it will enable to remove the barrier of visas to trade she alluded.
The passport will help create opportunity for women mobility that does not require visa fort them she said.
The Head of Economic Justice, Oxfam International, Mr. Mohammed Ndiaye, said the continent needs to know that the United States of Africa should be to guarantee the bright of her people to move freely between the different countries of Africa.
He said Africans are discriminated when traveling outside the continent. “Issue of visas to Europe and American depend on one’s country status and wealth”.
The citizenship passport would make traveling within one sate possible and we shall follow one condition when traveling outside to the West he said.
Mr. Ndiaye continued that if the continent wants to foster her economic integration, there is the need to let her citizen look for the opportunity in other country by free movement.
The representative from AU Monitor, Ms. Hakima Abass, said Senegalese traveling to Kenya, has to go to the British embassy for visa whereas Kenyan traveling to Senegal has to go to the French embassy for visa.
In addition, the same person on Togolese passport get 3 months visa to Ethiopia whereas the same person with USA passport gets 3 years visa to Ethiopia. “We see the disparity and how Africans within our continent are treated as foreigners” she exhorted.
This is a special AU Summit in Accra.
By Daniel Nana Aforo