UPDATE: The US Embassy on Wednesday, March 4, announced the resumption of normal services following a 2-day closure.
"We are pleased to announce that all visa, passport, and American citizen services are now fully operational. All consular appointments for March 5, 2020, are scheduled as normal,
"For appointments from March 2- 4, 2020, the U.S. Embassy continues to contact affected applicants to reschedule. Thank you for your patience as we reschedule as quickly as possible and thank you to our technicians for working 24/7 to get us operational again," a statement from the Embassy reads in part.
The Embassy of the United States of America to Kenya, located in Gigiri, Nairobi, announced that it would not be operating in full capacity on March 3.
"Our American Center Nairobi will also be closed on March 3, 2020. We apologize for any inconvenience caused," reads a statement sent out from the embassy.
The American Center is located in the consulate and serves students, teachers, researchers, journalists, and business professionals.
In the latest statement, consular also revealed that its premises were extensively damaged following a power surge, going to further announce that it would no longer be able to offer several services.
"All consular appointments for March 3, 2020, are canceled and will be rescheduled. Due to damage inflicted on our consular systems from a power surge and outage, we are currently unable to process visa, passport, and American Citizen Services applications," the US consular announced.
In the wake of the unexpected closure, the consular office apologized for the inconvenience caused, adding that its team of technicians were working around the clock to ensure that normal services resumed as soon as possible.
Pressed on what was to happen to visitors who were scheduled for Visa interviews on the day, the US consulate announced that it would contact each of them individually.
"The Embassy will be contacting all affected applicants. For general information, please call the visa call center at 020 764 0121," reads a section of their statement.
On February 27, the embassy had warned of a potential attack in an unnamed hotel in Nairobi.
"Terrorists may be plotting an attack against a major hotel in Nairobi. The exact hotel has not been identified, but is believed to be one popular with tourists and business travelers," the notice reads.
In the release, the embassy directed that people in the city increase vigilance when visiting and staying in hotels in the Nairobi area.
