Several viral news reports on the internet claim that the Namibian Presidency has issued an order for the deportation of 500 Americans in Namibia.This claim has been widely shared on social media. Most of the post shared this quote “if Africans need visa to enter the USA, then Americans must also need visa to enter Namibia.”
Fakenews Ghana has verified the viral post and presents the facts below:
Claim: The Namibian President is deporting 500 Americans from Namibia
Verdict: False
Explanation:
On April 01, 2025, the Namibian government implemented a new visa policy which requires nationals of 33 countries, including the United States of America, to obtain a visa to enter Namibia.
“The Namibian Government’s decision to impose visa requirements for nationals of countries that have not granted reciprocal visa exemption to Namibian passport holder” the Namibian Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation said in a press statement on January 09, 2025.
Shortly after this new policy, viral claims of a mass deportation of Americans in Namibia started making rounds on social media. However, the Namibian Presidency, in a post on X, refuted claims that it was deporting 500 US citizens from Namibia. The Presidency described the news as “fake news”.
They also clarified in a press release shared on its official X account that the viral posts on the deportation of Americans “feature fabricated quotes and images containing misinformation and disinformation intended to tarnish the image of the President and to create potential diplomatic embarrassment”.
