REQUIREMENTS FOR BORDER CROSSING WITH ON A SELF-DRIVE.

COMESA INSURANCE


Stands for the common market for Eastern and Southern Africa. there are 19members in this organization and it makes around a 390million.all countries in East and South fall under COMESA and it helps the country

When entering another country with a different vehicle, you need to have a COMESA, this COMESA is paid monthly, and yearly Depending on the time you will spend in a different country. When you’re traveling to Kenya on self-drive using a Ugandan vehicle, you need to have a COMESA so that you can travel without being disturbed by the traffic officers, That COMESA will work as the Insurance for such country you are entering too. Whenever you buy a COMESA the money goes directed to that organization and all countries under that organization will benefit from that money. with COMESA you can drive to any country that falls under the Organization

The role of COMESA is to establish equality and inter-independence of the member states, to promote, the recognition of human and people’s rights in accordance with the provision of the Africa charter on human and people’s rights. The peaceful settlement of the disputes among the member states within the organization promotes peaceful economic growth.

Instead of buying insurance in every country you visit for that car, the country under COMESA Member state sat and decided to agree on one thing by paying COMESA insurance and the third party will also consider COMESA to compassionate in case the accident.

PASSPORT FOR YOU AND YOUR PASSENGERS
Before crossing and processing the documents for the border crossing, your passport should be presented to the customs officer from the revenue authority at the border customs officer. They will check to confirm if the person wants to cross with the car to another country is the one fully authorized by the car owner(operator). The passport should be valid and should be indicating the real names and the person indicated in the authorization letter. The number of the passengers you traveling with will present their passports to the immigration office. But you’re the copy of passport for the driver is the only one they need both the softcopy and the hard copy

VALID DRIVING LICENCE
Whenever hiring a car for self-drive in east Africa you are entitled to drive with a valid driving license, the most preferably if you’re a foreigner you are supposed to use an international driving License, but you are also allowed to drive in East Africa with your local driving permit and you are allowed to use it for not more than 6month. The driving license should be valid until the end of your trip and need to be presented to the Customs office at the border to check its status and the copy should be attached to the authorization letter. The person indicated in the authorization letter should be the one accounted for the vehicle crossing.

AUTHORIZATION LETTER FROM THE CAR OWNER
This letter is usually given out by the operator (car owner) to the client or a person who is going to use the car across the borders. This letter should have the following information, the Name of the car owner, the date to cross the border, the name of the driver driving the car, and the signatory of the operator (car owner). The authorization letter should be well signed by the person responsible for the company or owner

CAR LOGBOOK
The car log book indicates the owner registration of the vehicle, all specifications on the car (car model, year of made, size of the engine, fuel type Color of the car, and others)

The signature on the logbook should be valid with what is included in the authorization letter unless the logbook is under the company where any company signatory is allowed to sign for you

CAR OWNER’S NATIONAL ID/PASSPORT
The car owner or a person authorized for the company should attach a photocopy of his national ID or passport. And this should be signed by the owner of the passport or national ID. The ID or the Passport should be varied

YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is always a requirement for all the travelers crossing to a different country and ever the no travelers and it is always advisable to get vaccinated before you plan to travel.

It helps you to be protected against Yellow fever which is caused by a principal mosquito vector. And it’s very dangerous. You can get the vaccination from any authorized health care before travelling or you can get it on arrival at the airport, seaport, or border at around 35Ksh but it’s cheaper when you get vaccinated before you travel. During your self-drive safari with selfdrivekenya, always come with your yellow Vaccination card, please

VISA
The cost of an African tourist visa border crossing varies depending on the country you plan to cross with a car. In Africa, all customs officers have different prices but some are transparent and others are hidden so that they can charge you any money they want.in East Africa, you can use the East African visa to cross to any other country that falls under EAC. And recently in 2022 Congo have also joined the EAC

Some countries offer or issue out car permission on free tax for two weeks and others don’t offer them completely in east Africa road tolls and taxes are not known yet but some African countries combine road taxes with the basic insurance

Before crossing the border to another country, you need to have a visa for that country you are entering too and it is always checked by immigration officers

CONFIRMATION LETTER FROM THE OPERATOR (CAR OWNER)
This letter is normally written by the car owner(operator) asking the customs officer to allow the bear to cross the border with the car. The vehicle is allowed inspected by the customs officer Before allowing you to cross the border. The confirmation letter indicates the name of the vehicle owner and is attached with them

 EXIT CONFIRMATION LETTER
Whenever you receive the permission document that allows you to drive in a different country, you are advised to keep them safely, when you return the car to the final destination please make sure you get an exit confirmation letter for the car to confirm that the car was removed in the system before your handover to the operator. In case you don’t remove the car from the system you will be entitled to all extra charges imposed on the car by the system. Most of the operators ask you for the exit confirmation letter before they receive the car key.