Deputy President William Ruto has directed that the deadline for acquiring new passports be extended to 2020.
Ruto was speaking during his tour in Rome, Italy, where he is pursuing avenues of collaboration in areas of agriculture and trade for Kenya.
The directive comes after the deadline to implement the new E-passport matured in October 2018.
Low turnouts, however, were experienced with only 400,000 out of the 2.5 million passport holders acquiring the new documents so far.
The move to digitize the passports comes at a time when the government is shifting to e-services to improve efficiency and reduce security loopholes.
Kenya becomes the second country in East Africa, after Burundi, to issue e-passports to its citizens.
During the launch of the program in August 2017, Interior CS Fred Matiang’i expressed that the digital passports would assist Kenyans in easing travel.
The e-passport will ensure the use of automated border clearances or e-gates, automated issuance of the boarding passes and faster travel arrangements with airlines and immigration checks worldwide.
The deployment of the e-passport system will definitely strengthen the integrity and restore international confidence and rating of Kenyan passports," Matiangi divulged.
The new documents bear the words ‘East African Community’ as well as ‘Kenya’ to enhance regional integration.
