A total of 17 passengers were on Thursday apprehended at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after being found with fake Covid-19 clearance certificates. 

The passengers were arrested by airport officials after their documents were discovered to be fake when subjected to the special scanning systems.

The authorities are looking for four other passengers who are also reported to have been travelling with fake Covid-19 clearance certificates.

Officials also recovered fake yellow fever certificates during the operation at JKIA which was done by port health officials sent from the Ministry of Health.

The arrests came barely 24 hours after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) slapped 13 countries, Kenya included, with a visa ban over what it termed as security concerns.

Other countries slapped with visa bans alongside Kenya are Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya.

Citizen tv reported that 100 Kenyan passengers were nabbed with fake Covid-19 free certificates in flight that landed in Dubai recently and half of them tested positive for Covid-19.