Starting next month, the government will issue Kenyan passports to all applicants within 21 days from the date of application.
In a statement on Thursday, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki announced that the historical bottlenecks affecting passport production at Nyayo House had been resolved.
“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,” said the CS.
He continued, “All the bottlenecks have now been comprehensively addressed. The backlog of pending passports that stood at 724,000 by March 11, 2024, has now been brought to below 50,000; 40,000 of which are ready for collection.”
Also Read – CS Kindiki on Passport Delays: “I will clean up Nyayo house once and for all”
CS Kindiki announced that the 21-day processing time for passports would gradually decrease to seven days from August 1, 2024, and further reduce to three days from November 1, 2024.
The Minister also disclosed that 17 public servants and members of the public involved in organized criminal activities, exploiting the passport situation to extort citizens, had been arrested and were facing criminal charges.
“The fight against corruption within the Immigration sector will continue until the public can access immigration services without resorting to corruption,” Kindiki emphasized.
