The Commission on Administrative Justice commonly known as the Ombudsman, on Tuesday, June 6, released a report exposing irregularities in the passport application process.
According to the commission, the report was a result of investigations done after several Kenyans filed complaints accusing the Department of Immigration Services of engaging in fraudulent activities.
The Ombudsman noted that the complaints were justified after investigations revealed that the department overcharged several citizens to process their travel documents.
In the report, some applicants who had paid for a “B” series passport, which contained 50 pages, were issued with the ‘A’ series passports of 34 pages.
“All complaints alleging overcharging of passport fees were found to be true while the Department of Immigration's allegation that the complainants edited their application to a lower series was found to be false.
“It was confirmed that the seven complainants applied for "B" series passports, which were the only options at the time, and paid KSh 6,050, but were instead issued "A" series passports,” the Commission observed.
The Ombudsman also noted that the immigration department lacked policies to guide employees on matters that arise from the application process including cancellation of an application.
"The department lacked an internal policy or procedure to guide and regulate issues that may arise during passport processing, such as application editing and cancellation," added Ombudsman.
The third concern raised was the lack of suitable mechanisms to automate the refund of excess payments made by passport applicants.
As a result, many Kenyans lost their money when they falsely paid more money while applying for passports through the eCitizen platform.
Speaking during the launch of the report, the chairperson of the Commission on Administrative Justice Florence Kajuju advised the Ministry of Interior led by Kithure Kindiki to increase budgetary allocation to the department.
According to Kajuju, the funds will allow the Department of Immigration Services to purchase new high-capacity passport printing machines, and service the old passport printing machines.
The new machines will be a solution to the delays in the processing of passports because of the continuous breakdown of printing machines reported by the department.
Further, Kindiki was advised to upgrade the eCitizen platform to allow for the accommodation of new and emerging trends.
Kajuju noted that the move was a solution to the reported unavailability of a particular passport series on the eCitizen platform leading to delays in processing.
Earlier, the State Department of Immigration and Citizen Services explained that the ongoing delay in passport processing was caused by a breakdown of a printing machine and the disruption in the supply of essential materials.
"Our staff is working around the clock to restore normal services and clear the backlog of pending passport applications as quickly as possible," stated a notice from the department.
