Yes, let those visiting Kenya have a pleasurable experience

Maasai warriors welcome a tourist with their culture. [Photo: Courtesy]

It is said that first impressions always count. Unfortunately, the lasting impression many visitors (on business or tour) have of Kenya is spending long hours at the arrival gates at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) where behind old, rickety desks, Immigration officials process their transit documents in the slowest of paces, asking the least relevant of questions.

Yet that is not the only unpleasant experience. Jet-lagged, the visitors must contend with the predatory airport police and customs officials waiting to pounce on them as if the agony occasioned by Immigration officials was not enough.