The Ministry of Interior and National Administration is now blaming the delays in issuance of passports on the lack of raw materials used to print the important document.
According to Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki, despite efforts to finish the backlog and reduce the number of Kenyans queuing at Nyayo House, getting raw materials has proved a big challenge for the Immigration department.
Speaking when he appeared before the Regional Integration Committee of the National Assembly on Thursday, Kindiki said despite the fact that they now have a budget to sustain their operations, the challenge has been getting booklets to print the passports.
“I regret to admit that we did not achieve the target we set as government in terms of cleaning up the department and issuing passports,” the CS told the committee, adding that the challenge is not only in Kenya, but global.
“We require 3 million pamphlets every 90 days, but the people providing the material are saying they can’t meet even half of that, We wanted to print 3 million passports every 90 days in the next 2 years,” Kindiki stated.
The Interior chief told the MP Wanjiku Muhia-led committee that they are dealing with the challenges that have been facing the issuance of passports though the process has been slow.
He said they will even enlist the services of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to help in getting solutions to the challenges.
“We have even sought the services of NIS in dealing with vendor wars that could be affecting this matter,” Kindiki told the MPs.
He also decried corruption issues that continue to affect the immigration department even as he assured members that efforts are in place to eradicate vice.
“We are prosecuting over 17 members of the staff, one of them even got a heart attack when we arrested him…they have been taking advantage of the situation to collect bribes,” Kindiki said.
The Interior CS told the committee that as of now, the backlog stands at 1.72 million passports, but they’re looking at ways of dealing with Kenyans queuing the whole day at Nyayo House.
“It’s very disrespectful to Kenyans to make them come and crowd at Nyayo House, we will find a way of stopping it by next week somehow,” Kindiki said.
