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After a brief stay in Harare at the Meikles, I was on my way to Lusaka by bus. Little did I know, I was about to experience one of my worst border crossings ever.

Goof dropped me off at the station at around 6:30 a.m. so that I could make sure to purchase a ticket. After we boarded the King Lion bus, the lady selling tickets came on board. She claimed to be the owner, then gave us some safety information and then quizzing us on the info, awarding prizes to those with correct answers. By giving away promotional gear like baseball caps, she really got the crowd involved. At the end of the twenty minute spectacle, we listened to a prayer as this was a religious bus. Overall the bus was comfortable and offered a surprisingly pleasant experience.

The drive was quite straight forward with one planned rest stop for food and restrooms. We had several annoying police stops to check the same paperwork over and over again, possibly to try and get something out of the driver.

We also passed a bizarre accident where a truck ran off the road and was being towed by another truck also off the road.

Getting to the Chirundu border, we alighted the bus and stood in line for immigration. The immigration officers sat in the middle of the room with the Zimbabwean immigration facing one side and the Zambian facing the other. The single line snaked around the room toward the officers.

The Zimbabwean immigration flipped through my passport, discussed something among themselves, then gave me my exit stamp.

I rejoined the line which continued to the Zambian side.

When the immigration lady finally took my passport, she flipped through to my KAZA Univisa that I purchased at the Kazungula border when I first arrived in Zambia from Kasane. That’s when the problem arose.

She told me that my visa wasn’t valid and that I would have to buy a new one.

The KAZA Univisa is a new initiative to allow visa free travel for tourists between member countries. It is currently in its pilot phase with Zambia and Zimbabwe participating.

I explained that when I purchased the visa at Kazungula, the immigration officer specifically said that if I enter back into Zambia, I would not need to buy a new visa. When I clarified if it applied by land, he confirmed that it was still valid. He specifically advised me not to pay any money at the border, which I thought was odd.

The multi-entry visa was valid for a three month period as long as I did not leave either Zambia or Zimbabwe.

The lady just shook her head and said “no, not at this border post.” I leaned over to point out that this visa was valid for “Zambia”, the country, not a specific border post.

She said that other travelers had the same visa and they didn’t let them through. Then she handed back my passport and said “you can buy a new visa or go back to Zimbabwe.”

I was shocked. My visa was clearly valid and now I have to spend another US$50 after just buying a visa a couple of days earlier?

I asked to speak to the manager. So she led me to a dark messy room with a single desk and told me to sit. A little later she called me over to another office where a bulky immigration officer was hunched over his desk speaking to a man with a humble demeanor.

I sat quietly waiting for him to acknowledge me. After a few minutes he finally looked in my direction and greeted me with a “hello”. I replied in kind and then he repeated almost word for word “you can’t go in with a Univisa, you can pay for a new visa or go back.”

I again went into an explanation of what the other immigration office advised and how a visa is valid for a country, regardless of the entry point.

He then goes to explain that this Univisa is to promote tourism and for those entering Victoria Falls. I replied that I am a tourist and I’m entering Zambia for tourism. He retorted, “We didn’t ask you to come! Go back to Zimbabwe.”

I sat dazed. How it was possible that an immigration head could be ignorant of the laws he is suppose to enforce or was he just corrupt and wanted to pocket the $50?

“I’m sorry but this process is ridiculous. I have a valid visa for your country, why do I need to buy another one?” 

“Ridiculous… Ridiculous?…” He repeated the word slowly and then louder as if the meaning was just starting to sink in. 

“You are calling me ridiculous?”

“No sir, I said the process is ridiculous.” 

“I was appointed by the king! You are calling the king ridiculous!”

“I never said that, sir”

Then he stood up from his chair and fumbled with his desk drawer to get something.

“Ridiculous… Ridiculous? I can have you arrested for insulting me!” 

He whipped out a pair of handcuffs and huffed toward me like a challenging elephant. He towered over me while I was still seated and shook the handcuffs inches from my face.

“I’m going to arrest you!” he says, while opening and closing the handcuffs to demonstrate that he knew how to use them.

Then he turned around, went back to his desk and threw my passport at me.

“Go back to Zimbabwe!” 

I took my passport and left with a “thank you”. 

The bus and 70 people were waiting for me, so I had no choice but to buy a new visa. As I stood in line the officer came out of the back room and ordered the lady not to process my visa. “He said I was ridiculous! Do not attend to him!” Then he left in a huff. 

The lady rightly ignored him and seemed somewhat apologetic at this point. She took me back to the back messy room and asked for payment. To add to my annoyance, they only accepted USD and I only had Euros on me, so I had to go exchange the cash.

By this time, everyone knew my predicament including the money changers, so they gave me some ridiculous exchange rates. I eventually settled on a 1-1 rate and exchanged the cash through the chainlink fence.

Back inside, I paid the lady and she started the belabored process of writing the visa. She eventually handed me my passport with the new visa with an entry stamp. “I apologize for the inconvenience” she muttered.

The entire busload of passengers watched as I boarded and sat down. We were finally on our way to Lusaka.

Unfortunately untrained government staff, especially at the border posts, can seriously damage the reputation of a country and affect the quality of experience for visitors. When I eventually flew out from Lusaka, I checked with the immigration office about my situation and they again confirmed that I didn’t need to purchase a new visa when I already had a valid univisa.

Though frustrating, at least I walk away with another TIA (This is Africa) story for the collection!