The Ministry of Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kithure Kindiki on Thursday issued a 21-day cap for the issuance of passports effective May 1.
According to the CS, the Ministry has been able to clear the backlog which stood at 724,000 to below 50,000.
Consequently, the ministry has explained that by May 1, Kenyans will acquire their passports within a 21-day window.
Further, the period will be reduced to seven days effective August 1 and eventually within three days by November 1.
The Ministry of Interior noted that the government would succeed in maintaining the caps as the challenges within the printing had been addressed.
“The bottlenecks have now been comprehensively addressed. The backlog of pending passports which stood at 724,000 by March 11, 2024, has now been brought to below 50,000; 40,000 of which are ready for collection,” read the statement in part
Some of the bottlenecks that were associated with the immigration department were underfunding within the department, corruption, and supply chain issues.
“Underfunding of the Directorate of Immigration, corruption, disruption of passport booklet raw material supply chain globally, dilapidated printing infrastructure for the personalization of passport booklets and delivery inefficiencies of ready passports had the combined effect of crippling service delivery, greatly inconveniencing applicants for the Kenyan passport’, stated the interior CS.
Additionally, the CS confirmed that seventeen people, both from within the public service and members of the public were part of a syndicate that extorted passport seekers were arrested.
Kindiki explained that the individuals had participated in soliciting bribes and this would result in them facing criminal charges.
Finally, the CS appreciated the Kenyan public for their patience in waiting for the ministry to clear the backlog and undertaking the reforms within the department.
“The Ministry of Interior and National Administration appreciates and thanks members of the public for their patience; the Immigration officials who worked tirelessly to turn around the situation since the ongoing reforms in the Directorate were initiated in April 2023," stated the Interior ministry.
They also thanked the National Treasury for securing funds to settle pending supplier bills and modernize the passport production equipment.
