NAIROBI: A few weeks ago, I needed to travel to a location where a visa was required. As has become customary, the visa handling office was an agency. It also felt strongly like a torture chamber.
The receiving staff could neither confirm nor deny issuance of the visa, their role stopped at accepting and dispatching the documents to the relevant embassy, which caused a great deal of consternation given that flights and hotel bookings needed to be confirmed before application of the visa.