CoverStory |
Focus on Airport Security
Photography | THINKSTOCK.COM
From P49
lounge. This is the only airport where I have seen such measures. The only bad thing with Jo’burg is that your luggage is not always very safe. Even if you lock your bag, once it has been taken into luggage handling, you can’t be assured of its safety. They somehow, always, have a way of opening your bags and getting your valuable stuff. So, if you have any valuables, it is advisable to carry them in your hand luggage.
Nigeria
Lagos is another airport where it seems that no one cares about anyone. There is some level of security, but you can always pass with a bit of bribing. Lagos seems to value Africans more than whites. In fact, you can be given first priority as a black person. When leaving the country, if you have valuables that are not allowed, all you have to do is bribe Customs and you get away with it
security checks when travelers are coming in and going out, the airport is also still under construction.” Marvin and Maxwell’s accounts at some point sound like stories you would read in a novel or scenes from a very good film, but, as intriguing and entertaining as they are, they should worry every traveler. If travelling across Africa means carrying extra cash for bribes, knowing people within the airports to get access to travelers’ lounges and the off-chance that one can carry anything into certain countries, what risks are we exposing citizens and other travelers to? Who is supposed to ensure security at the airports? Why are they not seeing the cracks and loopholes? Are they ignoring them deliberately or are they too busy counting planes as they land, forgetting that the planes could be carrying terrorists or traffickers? Three questions, possibly rhetorical, but they urgently need answers in a world of transnational terrorism and organized crime.
Ethiopia
At Addis Ababa you have to declare foreign currency, although many people rarely do it. When you are getting in they also run a security check just the same way they do when you are getting out.
Mozambique
In Maputo security officials are not very keen, although they run the
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Juliet Maruru is a Creative Writer, Editor and Literary Agent at Lesleigh Inc. She has worked as an online content editor and social media manager with Storymoja. She has also edited several children’s books including 99 Mchongoanos published by Storymoja. She manages The Princess Project (K) Online Magazine (http://princessprojectkenya.com/) and is the author of She Blossoms (jmaruru.wordpress.com)