President William Ruto on Friday, June 30 was issued with a seven-day ultimatum to resolve the passport crisis in the country that has left many Kenyans stranded.
The Thirdway Alliance through its Party Leader Ekuru Aukot, urged Ruto to act immediately to ensure the issue is resolved and all pending passport applications are processed and issued within the next 7 days.
In the statement, Aukot observed that many Kenyans had become fed up of the constant excuses offered by the Department of Immigration. For several months, the department had cited several reasons for the backlog including a shortage of booklets and the breakdown of the immigration printer.
"Mr. President, we fail to comprehend why verifying, approving, and printing a passport within a single day is such a challenge. Kenyans are not interested in the excuses behind the lack of passport books or printer malfunctions; they have diligently contributed to the process through their taxes and passport fees," read part of the statement.
One Kenyan complained of a delay in the issuance of his passport. Despite applying for the passport and paying all the required charges in May 2022, he was yet to receive their passport one year later.
Some complained of missing job opportunities among other economic ventures due to the passport crisis.
The Head of State was also urged to enforce legal timelines for passport issuance and renewal through appropriate legislation and regulations.
Furthermore, it was strongly recommended that the government adopts automation in the passport issuance system, mirroring the successful implementation of the Business Registration Services. This, Aukot said, would guarantee that each application receives a prompt response within a timeframe of 2 hours.
According to the party, advancement in the country's ICT sector meant that solving the crisis was doable.
Moreover, Ruto was urged to establish a streamlined information technology system that includes an audit trail. This system would effectively hold individual officers accountable for any delays, thereby enabling the imposition of appropriate penalties.
The party also proposed devolving the issuance of passports to all county headquarters to improve accessibility and efficiency.
The Thirdway Alliance also appealed to the President Ruto to stamp out discrimination in the immigration office to ensure that all Kenyans receive their passports on the same day they submit their biometric data.
On May 31, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki promised that going forward, the processing and issuance of passports would take one week.
He revealed that the broken printer had been fixed to ease the process and help the frustrated Kenyans who had been waiting for their passports for months.
"All new passport applications will be received in seven working days while those in emergency need of the document will receive them in 48 hours," the CS vowed.
