Image: MINA
Some 15, 354 passports are ready for collection this week, the Immigration Department has announced.
Applicants have been asked to pick the documents between October 2 and 6.
In Nairobi, 7,501 passports are ready for collection 1,540 in Eldoret, 1,072(Embu) and 1,479 in Kisii.
In Nakuru, 1,000 passports are ready while 1,160 have been printed and awaiting collection in Mombasa.
In Kisumu, the department said 1,602 passports are ready.
Uncollected passports
In relation to that, 65, 101 passports are yet to be collected by Kenyans countrywide as the second week of the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) begins on Monday.
Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki on Saturday said that the initiative which seeks to clear passport backlog nationwide was on course.
Data from the Ministry revealed that at the Nyayo House Immigration office, 26,839 passports are still due for pick-up.
Embu Regional Office has 7,983 uncollected passports, Eldoret has 7,641 and Kisumu Regional Office has 7,756 due for collection.
Other regions include Nakuru with 6,495, Kisii(6,717) and Mombasa 1,670.
CS Kindiki on September 19, 2023, initiated a 30-day Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) for the delivery of uncollected passports at the Immigration Department’s Nyayo House Headquarters and all regional offices.
The initiative is part of the policy and operational reforms to resolve the backlog in the processing and issuance of passports and other vital citizenship documents.
The Interior Chief said then that 87,574 passports were ready but remained uncollected.
For ease of collection, Kindiki said names of applicants whose passports will be due for collection the following week will be published every Wednesday to streamline the collection process.
“Persons who fail to pick up their documents within the stipulated period and at the expiry of the due notice will have their passports disposed of in accordance with the law and penalised when making a future application,” Kindiki said.
Already collected
As of September 29, 2023, some 22,353 passports had been delivered to Kenyans countrywide in the first week of RRI.
The distributions of collected passports include Nyayo House (Nairobi) – 9,331, Embu Regional Office (2,426), Eldoret Regional Office (2,297), Kisumu Regional Office (1,763), Nakuru Regional Office (1,528), Kisii Regional Office (1,254) and Mombasa Regional Office (3,754).
The government warned that passports that stay uncollected after their stipulated period of collection will be disposed of and the owners penalised in accordance with the law.
“Persons who fail to pick up their documents within the stipulated period and at the expiry of the due notice will have their passports disposed of in accordance with the law and penalised when making a future application,” Kindiki said.
The Interior CS has stepped up efforts to eradicate corruption at the Immigration Department following public outcry over delayed processing of the travel documents.
The uproar prompted Parliament to summon him for an explanation where Kindiki admitted that corruption was endemic at the Immigration Department but vowed to crash the cartels.
The CS has banned bodaboda riders and idlers around immigration offices and declared the area a corruption-free zone.
Kenyans who have made applications for passports since the operation to restore delivery time for travel documents by Kindiki have acknowledged that the turnaround period has greatly improved and the process is less hectic after a 24-hour shift was introduced.
Emergency applications for persons seeking medical care abroad, students due for admission to learning institutions outside Kenya and people who have secured job opportunities that have a clear reporting deadline are being processed expeditiously.
CS Kindiki noted that the reforms in the immigration department were bearing fruit and that people should visit to collect passports.
The department is currently printing about 5,000 passports daily but Kindiki said orders have been placed for new printers that will triple or quadruple the number.