The government yesterday received a consignment of more than 100,000 passport booklets, which are expected to ease delays witnessed in the last few months.

Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Ambassador Julius Bitok said the passports were ordered from abroad two months ago.

“As you are aware, there have been delays in issuance of passports because the stocks were very low but today, I am happy to announce that we have received more than 100,000 booklets for passports,” said the PS, who spoke in Nairobi when he received the passports.

With the new consignment, Bitok assured Kenyans that henceforth, the process of issuance will be faster, more efficient and urged Kenyans to pick this all important document.

Passports arrive

“I want to thank Kenyans for being patient with us, we have been waiting for these passports for a while but we are happy to announce that they are now here and it will be really important for all the applicants that want to travel. For those who want to go for jobs abroad, to visit their friends and family… passports are now available for you,” the PS stated.

He also said discussions with various suppliers on the possibility of having a public private partnership arrangement are underway so that Kenya does not have to get passports from abroad.

“We want them manufactured and printed in Kenya. Right now we have had a discussion with one of the vendors and we are optimistic that soon we will make these passports in the country and that is the way to go,” he explained.

According to the PS, another consignment of 100,000 passports will be in the country by end of the month, even as he stated that the Government is working on modalities to reduce the cost of acquiring the document from the usual Sh4,500.

“The passport as for now costs Sh4,500 but we want to tell Kenyans that the production cost is equivalent to this amount thus it may not be possible to reduce the cost for now but we are working on it,” he assured.

Out of  stock

He also assured that going forward, there will be no cases of adjustment in the number of pages applied, explaining that previously, people could apply for a 66 page passport only to be told it is out of stock and that they can only get the 45 page document or vice versa. 

At least 20,000 Kenyans who had applied for their passports over two months ago have now been urged to pick them up.

Last year, the government acknowledged delays in passport printing owing to breakdown of the key printer and at least Sh150 million was required for a new machine.

The Government seeks to increase the number of passport holders from 3.5 million to more than 10 million in the next five years. It has also assured that it will streamline the process of issuing passports and other immigration department services.

Last month, Kenya retained its position as the country with the strongest passport in East Africa, placing seventh on the continent in the Henley Passport Index Report global passport ranking.

The Henly’s first quarter report ranked Kenya 71st globally, rising from position 76 in last year’s report and tying with Indonesia.

The country has a visa free score of 72, which means that Kenyans can travel to 72 destinations worldwide without a visa, or secure a visa, visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) on arrival.