Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, on Friday, June 2, announced the reopening of the Immigration office in Garissa County closed in 2014.
Kindiki stated that the office will be opened on July 1 to facilitate seamless and expeditious processing and issuance of passports and other critical residents in the North Eastern region.
"Opening this office is part of the Kenya Kwanza administration's efforts to enhance equal access to quality Department of Immigration Services," the CS remarked.
With the area facing rampant terror attacks, the government will also spend Ksh20 billion to modernise various security agencies' equipment and other facilities.
"We will boost the capacity of our specialised security and intelligence teams to combat terrorism and other related crimes," Kindiki added.
Kindiki toured the area to inspect security installations and other critical facilities.
He was joined by leaders in the area, including Governor Nathif Jama Adam and Deputy Inspector General Noor Gabow, who is leading security operations in the North Rift.
"Great news for the people of Garissa County and the wider North-Eastern region to have the Immigration office re-opened in Garissa. This will speed up the processing & issuance of passports for the residents," noted the governor.
The move came after Kindiki ordered reopening the Kenya-Somalia border at three strategic points, Liboi-Dhobley, Mandera-Bula, and Kiunga-ras Kamboni.
According to the CS, the government expected to open the borders within 90 days to end a decade of its closure.
Kindiki was in the company of Somalia's ministers Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh Ali (Internal Security), Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur (Defence), and Abshir Omar Jama (Foreign Affairs), where they discussed ways of strengthening the ties between the two countries.
"Among the commitments that we have made is the signing of outcome documents which lays a road map of where we are going," Kindiki stated.
"We will also develop modalities of addressing cross-border challenges appreciating the nature of transnational threats," he added.
