CS Kindiki big promise: Kenyans to get passports in a day
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki during a visit at Nyayo House Immigration Department on September 1, 2023, following public outcry over delays in passport application process.
Kenyans will in future apply for passports and have them within 24 hours, the government has said.
On Friday, while reiterating that the process of pacifying Nyayo House and ridding it of cartels that have derailed service delivery is far from over, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said the government had stepped up intelligence and was particularly monitoring telephone conversations at the Immigration Department suspected to be of criminal intent.
Speaking when he visited the Immigration offices for the second day running, Prof Kindiki said he would continue fighting corruption at Nyayo House until Kenyans are content with service delivery. The war will continue countrywide in other immigration offices as well, he said.
“Our dream as a ministry is [to] have a one-day service. [Such that] you apply in the morning and get the passport in the evening,” CS Kindiki explained.
Kenyans at the Immigration Department at Nyayo House, Nairobi on September 1, 2023.
While acknowledging that public perception of immigration, especially the issuance of passports, has not been very good in the last few days, Prof Kindiki said the department will be the most efficient in the coming days.
“We've two problems: technology and production. Then there was corruption that is facilitated by brokers,” CS Kindiki said, adding that the government will procure more equipment and personnel as part of the commitment to ensure quick service delivery.
The proclamations are coming days after the CS declared Nyayo House a 'crime scene'. On Thursday, he had ordered that idlers would not be entertained at and around Nyayo House. Prof Kindiki further directed that no cars would be allowed to remain stationary around the building except when dropping off passengers and visitors.
He argued that corrupt individuals masquerade as immigration officials before they pounce on Kenyans demanding bribes to facilitate services.
“Long story is this: we're committed to completing the journey we've started. Although there's progress, we're not yet there. The changes will be permanent,” CS Kindiki said, adding that: “Zero tolerance to corruption is non-negotiable.”
“We're going to make it our business to come here until changes and reforms here are achieved and sustained,” he said.
Kenyans at the Immigration Department at Nyayo House, Nairobi on September 1, 2023.
While expressing confidence in the process, he noted progress in the journey of restoring normalcy at the “crime scene”, saying that it keeps getting better.
The raft of changes that he intends to make includes creating a special counter for breastfeeding mothers and mothers with infants.
The emergency counter, he said, will serve the sick, students who are leaving for studies abroad, and individuals with job offers abroad, all whom should have documents ascertaining their urgency.
“In all those, paying of bribes cannot create priority,” CS Kindiki warned.
