Govt Halts Passport Issuance, Issues Way Forward
On Tuesday, April 30, the State Department of Immigration Services under the Ministry of Interior announced a temporary pause in passport application and collection services.
The State Department stated that the issue was due to a malfunction in the system, which they were working on resolving.
“We regret to inform our clients that we are currently experiencing a downtime that has affected our normal passport application receiving and collection services,” a statement from the State Department read in part.
“Our engineers are working to resolve the issue and ensure the resumption of normal services as soon as possible.”
Applicants who were impacted were notified that new dates would be shared with them as soon as they become available.
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This occurred just a week after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki declared that obtaining a passport would take 21 days from the application date.
Interestingly, the 21-day limit on passport issuance was set to take effect on May 1, coinciding with the recent system outage.
The anticipated downtime is likely to increase the passport backlog to nearly one million, which is currently at 724,000.
Kenyans looking to work overseas as part of President William Ruto’s human capital export initiative will also face difficulties.
In November 2023, President Ruto revealed that the Kenya Kwanza administration plans to address the unemployment crisis by sending at least 5,000 Kenyans overseas every week.
The National Treasury provided funds to upgrade the passport production equipment to streamline the process of obtaining passports.
Moreover, 17 individuals from the Nyayo Immigration Centre were arrested for allegedly demanding bribes from passport applicants and disrupting the efficiency of the application process.
Govt Halts Passport Issuance, Issues Way Forward