Beginning the next financial year, the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services could retain billions of shillings collected annually in fees for various documents issued by the state.
The National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee recommends allowing the department to retain 20% of the total revenue collected, including from the issuance of passports, Identity Cards, birth certificates, and death certificates in FY2024/25.
The committee led by Ndindi Nyoro stated that allowing the department to retain revenue will address funding challenges associated with delays in the issuance of documents.
“Before finalization of the Annual Estimates for FY2024-2025, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury to enhance the Appropriation-in-Aid for the Department from the current Kshs 1.3 billon to 20pc of all the revenues it generates to the Exchequer through issuance of documents,” said the Committee in the Report on the Budget Policy Statement for FY2024/2025 and the Medium Term tabled in Parliament last week.
If approved, the department would retain Kes.3.98 billion from the estimated fee collection in the coming financial year, starting July 1, 2024.
The new funding proposal signifies a 206.2% increase in funding for the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services from the FY2024/25 estimates.
The committee noted that despite Kenyans paying Kes. 5 billion for passports through the e-citizen platform as of February 23, 2024, the Immigration Department was unable to print and issue at least 800,000 passports due to a shortage of booklets.
The Treasury estimates for FY2024/25 reveal that the department has been allocated a total of Kes. 15.9 billion, with migration and citizen services receiving Kes. 6.9 billion, population management services receiving Kes. 7.8 billion, and general planning and administration allocated Kes.1.2 billion.
