Govt to Expedite 49,500 Passports in 14-Days, Hours After System Failure.
The State Department declared a system malfunction that affected the regular procedures for accepting and collecting passport applications. A few hours later, the government announced that it will issue 49,500 passports in 14 days, beginning on May 10, 2024.
Leading this effort is Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, who hopes to alleviate the 724,000-passport backlog that many applicants are facing while they wait for their travel credentials.
Kindiki claims that the Ministry has already been under fire for its slow passport-issuing process. “We want the passports delivered and collected in 14 days,” he declared.
A large percentage of the 49,500 passports that will be issued will be for citizens living in different parts of the nation. Nairobi County holds the highest number of passports (27,000), followed by Embu (4,500), Nakuru (4,200), Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu, Kisii, and Kericho, with allocations varying from 3,000 to 400.
The statement follows an earlier Tuesday morning temporary suspension of passport application and pickup procedures. Citing a system breakdown as the reason, the State Department reassured the public that quick action was being taken to address the problem.
A statement from the State Department said, in part, “We regret to inform our clients that we are currently experiencing a downtime that has affected our normal passport application receiving and collection services.”
The administration has set high goals for passport and digital identity card issuance in addition to clearing the current backlog.
By the end of 2024, the government hopes to have issued three million digital national identity cards and at least one million passports, thanks to the purchase of two new passport printing machines in April.
Prof. Julius Bitok, the Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services, noted at the announcement of the purchase of the new equipment that the enhanced output will not only expedite services but also help generate income through the e-Citizen platform.
The past three years have seen a number of difficulties for applicants, such as inadequate financing, a lack of passport booklets, malfunctioning equipment, corruption, and bad press. Kindiki gave the populace assurances that steps were being taken to resolve these problems and maintain the reforms over time.
Prof. Bitok stated, “We think there are reasonable targets based on the strategic improvements and investments that we have made to our essential personal registration and documentation systems.”
The introduction of new high-capacity printers is anticipated to result in a notable increase in service delivery by cutting the wait times for passport issue to fewer than 14 working days.
Ps Bitok reaffirmed the government’s commitment to eliminating delays, pointing to sufficient resource allocation as a crucial component in accomplishing this objective.
Govt to Expedite 49,500 Passports in 14-Days, Hours After System Failure.
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