The Director-General of Immigration Evelyn Cheluget on Monday convened a staff meeting of employees at Nyayo House over the backlog of passports.
The high-level staff meeting came a few days after the Cabinet Secretary of Interior, Kithure Kindiki termed Nyayo House a crime scene.
Evelyn Cheluget warned all employees at the Directorate of Immigration who have been aiding Kenyans in securing passports through corrupt means.
She notes that moving forward, the department will be taking punitive measures against all corrupt staff at the immigration department.
The Director General asserted that one of the steps they would be taking is ensuring that the department works on 24-hour shifts to clear the applications backlog.
The day and night shifts would help the department clear the passport backlog that currently stands at 58,000 and counting.
The DG also noted that a few counters were secluded to cater for emergency passport applications which would quickly cater for high-priority passport applications.
She urged employees of the department to double their efforts, as the Ministry works towards clearing the backlog of passport applications.
The government will lease high-capacity passport printing machines from private investors to help process applications due to faulty machines.
The Immigration Department has been on the receiving end following delays in passport processing, with a section of Kenyans forced to wait for months before securing the document.
The Ministry has promised to deliver passports but has fallen short, with confusion reigning since January when the problems started.
Last week, Kindiki gave a stern warning but little has changed as the pain of getting the critical travel document persists.
