Civil Society groups under the umbrella of Linda Ugatuzi want Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki kicked out of office over irregularities at Nyayo House that led to a delay in the printing of passports and other documents.
Led by activist and political analyst, Fred Ogola, the societies questioned how operations were run at the Immigration Department, demanding that the Interior CS shed light on the prolonged crisis.
According to Ogola, the constant breakdown of the government printer caused massive job losses and affected Kenyans seeking opportunities abroad.
He questioned why the department was wallowing in debt, yet passports, work permits and marriage certificates were only issued after applicants had paid. The money collected, he argued, was enough to facilitate operations at the Immigration Department.
Ogola cited a report by the Chief Executive Officer of the Government Printer Abdi Hassan Ali, presented on Thursday, June 15, which detailed that government agencies including the ones running the fertiliser subsidy and Huduma Namba projects and others owed it Ksh450 million.
“They are denying Kenyans who are travelling outside the country opportunities. They stated they had not been paid Ksh450 million from different government agencies and, therefore, have no money.
“Now that BBI was nullified, how will the printer collect the Ksh100 million owed,” he added.
Simultaneously, they called upon Kindiki to provide an explanation regarding allegations of certain employees at Nyayo House demanding bribes to expedite passport processing. These allegations stood in contrast to the statement provided by the Immigration department, which claimed that the delay was due to a printer malfunction.
“There are those being asked for bribes as high as Ksh20,000 by officials at Nyayo House to get their passports fast-tracked, yet they are claiming that the printers cannot work,” Ogola stated.
The lobby groups called on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to conduct investigations at Nyayo House and apprehend staff behind the racket.
On June 6, the Immigration Department informed Kenyans about a technical issue involving the printing machine and the resulting delays in the procurement of necessary materials. The department assured the public that they were working diligently to promptly resolve the matter.
"Our staff are working round the clock to reinstall normal services and to clear the backlog of pending passport applications as soon as possible," the statement read in part.
At the same time, the Commission on Administrative Justice, commonly known as the Ombudsman, confirmed that applicants complained of being overcharged before their travel documents are processed.
It also raised concerns over the lack of suitable mechanisms to automate the refund of excess payments made by passport applicants.
"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," Ombudsman noted.
The report followed an announcement by Kindiki on May 31, that passports of Kenyans with emergencies would be processed within 24 hours, and the backlog would be cleared in 21 days.
