Kenyan travellers can anticipate a significant improvement in the passport issuance process, as the Interior Ministry plans to accelerate printing times to under a month starting June this year, as disclosed by Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok.
PS Bitok speaks with Ruto over passports
Bitok unveiled this development on Sunday, highlighting that President William Ruto personally intervened by instructing him to collaborate with Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro to achieve this objective within three months. President Ruto engaged in phone conversations with Nyoro, tasking him, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee in the National Assembly, to allocate funds to expedite the passport processing.
“The President personally contacted me and emphasized the urgency of addressing the passport issue. He instructed me to coordinate with Ndindi Nyoro, whom he had directed to provide the necessary funding,” Bitok conveyed to the audience.
He confidently declared, “With the collaboration of Ndindi Nyoro, we will resolve the passport printing issue, ensuring that everyone receives their passports within one month of application.”
Bitok underscored that the President’s directive stemmed from his aspiration to facilitate the employment of over 500,000 Kenyans abroad. “The President has set a target of sending 500,000 individuals to work overseas in countries like Australia, Germany, and the USA. This is part of our labour migration program,” he elaborated.
The realization of this expedited process will undoubtedly come as a relief to Kenyan travellers, many of whom have experienced lengthy waits of over a year for their essential travel documents.
Kenyans should collect passports
This announcement follows closely on the heels of Bitok’s call for Kenyans to collect approximately 58,000 pending passports languishing in various immigration offices nationwide. He emphasized that the department had intensified its efforts, urging affected individuals to retrieve their passports promptly to accommodate new applications.
Bitok disclosed that Nairobi leads in the backlog, with 24,613 passports awaiting collection, followed by Embu with 9,584, among others. He attributed previous delays in passport production to printer malfunctions, a problem that has been addressed with the acquisition of new machines, as revealed by Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura in early February.
