Nairobi, Kenya | By Michael Wandati | The Members of the National Assembly in Kenya have put forth a proposal suggesting that Kenyans applying for passports should receive the travel document within three days of submitting their application.
The recommendation was put forward by the National Assembly’s Committee on National Administration and Internal Security. Additionally, MPs urged the government to expand the availability of Immigration offices across the country to streamline the passport acquisition process.
MPs highlighted that many applicants currently face challenges due to the limited accessibility of Nyayo House and the eight regional Immigration offices, often having to travel long distances at considerable expense.
“With adequate resourcing, targeting a maximum of three days for applicants to be issued with passports is realistic. This should be feasible, especially with the opening of more offices in other parts of the country,” Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo said.
The MP, who serves as both the chair of the Committee and a member, commended the government for implementing reforms that have enhanced the effectiveness of the Directorate of Immigration.
“We were used to seeing long queues of people at Nyayo House even after 5 pm on working days, but we note that nowadays, those scenes are gone,” Mandera East MP Hussein Abdirahman said.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki and Immigration PS Julius Bitok had previously pledged to implement a maximum waiting period of 7 days for passport applications.
These statements were made during the presentation of the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services’ budget estimates for the 2024/25 Financial Year, as well as supplementary estimates for FY 2023/24.
Bitok disclosed that the Department’s budget allocation amounted to Ksh. 15.151 billion, slightly lower than the requested Ksh. 15.873 billion in the Budget Policy Statement. Out of this allocation, Ksh. 10.1458 billion is allocated for the recurrent budget, while Ksh. 5.091 billion will be designated for development projects.
In the second Supplementary estimate for FY 2023/2024, the State Department’s revised budget was Ksh. 12.633 billion, with the majority, Ksh 9.136 billion, allocated to the recurrent budget.
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Bitok informed the MPs that the Department had effectively cleared a backlog of approximately 700,000 passports and had made significant investments in equipment and technology through funds obtained from Appropriation-in-Aid from Immigration and other services.
“With Parliament’s support, we have dealt with the issue of passport backlog and instituted important reforms, including creating two banking halls, buying two printers and increasing personnel.”
He also highlighted several milestones achieved by the Department, including the digitization of over 16,000 government services on eCitizen, the implementation of the visa-free entry regime in January, and the successful processing of over 500,000 visitors to Kenya through the Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) system.
Additionally, the PS appealed for increased funding to facilitate the rollout of newly introduced initiatives such as the digital ID, the Maisha Card, and its associated infrastructure. He also emphasized the importance of supporting the Shirika Plan, which aims to integrate refugees with host communities by relocating them from camps.
