PS Bitok: Kenyans to Acquire New Passports Within 21 Days Starting April
Julius Bitok, Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services, announced that Kenya will receive two new passports printers by the end of March.
The state anticipates receiving an additional one million books in the upcoming weeks, according to a statement made by Bitok on Wednesday, following his receipt of new passport printing booklets.
With the additions, the nation is now well-positioned to handle the passport backlog, according to the Principal Secretary.
Kenyans will now receive their passports in less than 21 days, according to Bitok.
“We have produced booklets this evening, which is a crucial step in improving the immigration department’s service delivery. We are well-positioned to effectively handle the passport backlog, Bitok added, with the arrival of two new printers by the end of this month and the procurement of over a million booklets scheduled for delivery shortly.
“This improvement ensures a smoother and faster process, ensuring that all applicants will now receive their passports within a maximum of 21 days.”
New passports
This occurs at the same time as Kenya is dealing with a backlog brought on by the usage of an outdated printer and a deficiency in booklet production.
On March 5, though, PS Bitok gave Kenyans the reassurance that the Directorate of Immigration Services had stepped up efforts to process and print passports, as well as to clear the backlog of applications brought on by an increase in demand.
In addition, he stated that applications were being processed in order of submission, subject to the availability of particular booklets based on the quantity of pages each applicant had paid for.
Kithure Kindiki, the secretary of the Interior Cabinet, accepted responsibility last month for the postponed passport issuance.
Kindiki saw the suffering and annoyance that many Kenyans went through when applying for passports for a variety of reasons, which led to a loss of work possibilities and limited travel for vacation, business, education, or medical reasons.
“The current situation is unacceptable, given that every Kenyan has the right to get citizenship credentials, which include travel documents. He remarked, “I accept responsibility for the current systemic inefficiencies and the sluggish pace of reforms as the Cabinet Secretary in charge of passport issuance.”
New passports
The CS emphasized that years of underfunding manufacturing infrastructure, mounting supplier debt, and unethical behavior were to blame.
Kindiki also pledged to finally address the issues related to passport issuance, with the goal of establishing effectiveness and prompt service delivery as soon as feasible.
