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Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki says efforts are underway to clear thousands of uncollected passports lying at Nyayo House, Nairobi.

In a statement on Tuesday, September 12, Kindiki announced plans to deploy a rapid response approach to deal with the challenges of uncollected passports.

The government is expected to announce a time frame for applicants to collect their travel documents next week.

“There are thousands of passports that remain uncollected at the Immigration Department’s Nyayo House Headquarters and other regional offices. The Government will next week announce a rapid response initiative for the collection of passports,” Kindiki said.

The CS made the remarks after making a surprise visit to the Embu Regional Immigration Department offices to monitor recent reforms introduced by the government.

“The process of applying for and production of passports and other vital citizenship documents must be corruption-free and not involve brokers and middlemen. As the Government addresses the historical backlog in the processing of passports, Immigration Department officers are working round the clock to expedite the processing of new applications,” Kindiki added.

Last Friday, the CS noted that there was an improvement in the processing of passports at the immigration and citizen service offices in Nairobi.

Passport backlog

During his visit to the Nyayo House, Kindiki reported that queues had shortened, and the processing speed had increased as part of efforts to address the current backlog.

“The queues at Nyayo House are now shorter, and the movement is faster as the Immigration Department works to process all outstanding passport applications,” he stated.

“The tremendous improvement is a result of operational reforms initiated in the last three weeks. Immigration officers are working round the clock to clear the backlog and eventually ensure all future applications are processed without delay,” he added.

The CS had earlier attributed delays in processing of passports to massive corruption at Nyayo House.

Appearing before the National Assembly’s Regional and Integration Committee on August 24, the CS admitted that corrupt officials at the immigration department were taking bribes from Kenyans for services offered at zero cost.