More than 60,000 applicants who have been waiting for their Kenyan passports will receive them within three weeks.
Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said the backlog of applications will be cleared in 21 days after the government received over 100,000 passport blank booklets.
“It will take you 21 days to receive your passport if you apply on the e-Citizen platform,” the PS said on Wednesday.
Officials said there are currently 63,265 passport applications pending issuance, with the majority being the popular 34-page A-series.
The backlog has been caused by a shortage of booklets and an increase in demand for passports, particularly by Kenyans seeking employment abroad and students enrolling in foreign institutions.
Bitok said the government is in talks with potential investors to invest in local manufacturing of passports, for faster and comparatively cheaper supplies.
"We’re in talks with investors for Public-Private Partnerships (PPT) so that we can manufacture and print these documents here in Kenya,” said the PS.
With the new delivery, the backlog of 15,358 A-series, 10,045 B-series, and 37,810 C-series passports that were queued due to the booklet shortage will now be cleared, he said.
Bitok also urged more Kenyans to use the e-Citizen platform to apply for passports and take advantage of the digitization of government services.
Kenyans raised concerns over the delay and what appeared to be laxity among immigration officials in addressing the matter.
The delays in issuance of the documents prompted some of the applicants to postpone their plans.
The Immigration Department’s Head of Corporate Affairs Ambassador Isaac Ochieng had said some Sh150 million would be needed for a new machine.
On February 4, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki assured Kenyans that passport delays will be resolved since the printer at the Directorate of Immigration Services was fixed.
"The department has 50,000 34-page booklets with 200,000 more expected as well as a similar figure each month in the next six months," the CS added.
