A Makerere University academic has urged the United States government to reconsider its visa requirements for Ugandans and other African travellers, saying the cost is making it difficult for academics to maintain research and professional links with their American counterparts.
Prof Eric Awich Ochen, deputy principal of Makerere University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), said the requirements had become prohibitively expensive for university academics who need to travel to the United States for conferences, research and other scholarly engagements.
‘Let me use this opportunity to send a request on behalf of African academics… Can the US government reconsider the prohibitive visa fees which most of us can not now afford?’ Ochen said.
‘A couple of years ago, I used to go to the USA almost every year to attend the African Studies Association’s engagements but now I can’t afford to get the visa fee,’ he said.
Ochen was speaking on August 19 during a public lecture at Makerere University marking the 250th anniversary of US independence. The event was organised by the Great Lakes Center for the Study of the United States at Makerere University and attended by officials from the US Embassy in Uganda, academics and students.
His comments come after the US government introduced a visa bond requirement for citizens of a number of countries, including Uganda, with affected applicants required to post between $5,000 and $15,000 depending on the applicable category.
The requirement has raised concerns among travellers and institutions whose staff and researchers depend on international academic exchanges.
Michael ‘Mika’ Cleverley, Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Uganda, declined to comment directly on Ochen’s concern, saying such decisions are made by the US Department of State.
The visa requirement has particular implications for academics participating in organisations such as the African Studies Association, which bring together researchers, teachers and students working on African studies.
The debate over access to the United States came as speakers at the Makerere lecture examined lessons Africa could draw from the country’s 250-year history.
Professor Gilbert Khadiagala, an emeritus professor of international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and keynote speaker, said African countries should study the United States’ experience in building institutions rather than simply copying its political model.
‘The 250 years of the United States is a milestone in nation building. We should avoid copying but we shouldn’t be afraid of learning what has worked or not worked for America as Africa struggles with challenges of leadership and institutional building,’ Khadiagala said.
‘There is a lot we can learn from the 250 years of America’s almost uninterrupted peace, security, stability and democracy,’ he added.
Khadiagala also called for greater investment in education, infrastructure and institutions to help African countries benefit from their youthful populations.
‘How do we harness demographic dividend in Africa without functional education systems, without roads, without investment in basic institutions?’ he asked.
He said African governments should focus on building institutions that can survive changes in political leadership rather than placing excessive emphasis on individual leaders.
Cleverley said the founding of the United States was not the work of one person or movement but resulted from the contributions of many people and competing voices.
He also commended the Great Lakes Center for the Study of the United States at Makerere for promoting research and partnerships on democracy, governance and US-Africa relations.
The centre is housed in Makerere’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration and serves as a regional hub for research and academic partnerships focusing on the United States and Africa.
Prof Sarah Ssali, Makerere’s Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs, who represented Vice Chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, said research remained central to the university’s transformation agenda.
She said the Great Lakes Center was an important platform for expanding and strengthening Makerere’s research agenda.
Ssali also disclosed that the centre had undertaken a research project examining Uganda-US relations since 1945 under the framework of civilisation.
The United States marks 250 years since the 13 North American colonies declared independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. The declaration was followed by the American Revolutionary War, which ended in 1783.