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7mon agoPERPETUA ETYANGRealtime
Immigration Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has revealed that more than 57,000 printed passports are yet to be collected by applicants at various designated centres across the country.
Kipsang disclosed this while engaging members of the National Assembly’s Regional Integration committee.
The committee, led by its chairperson Irene Mayaka had visited the Immigration offices to assess reforms on infrastructural system upgrades introduced to improve timely processing of passports.
"As of 9th June 2025, despite having notified applicants by text messages, we have 57,334 uncollected passports" Kipsang said.
Belio added that they have successfully streamlined the passport issuance process which has seen a total of 621,805 passports issued in 2024.
He outlined several reforms implemented by the Department to improve service delivery which include acquisition of two high-end passport personalization machines and procurement of one million passport booklets.
This is addition to recruiting 286 officers and in-house training of officers on integrity and customer care among others.
Despite the progress, members of the committee called for faster processing of Work Permits and Permanent Residence for foreigners.
Concerns were raised by members over the large number of uncollected passports, urging the Department to adopt more proactive channels of communication to reach out to the applicants.
"Some of these passports could belong to Kenyans seeking job opportunities abroad. Some of them apply through Cybers and may not even have mobile phones. Don't just sit and operate in your offices, go out of your way," said Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia.
Adding her voice, the chairperson emphasized the importance of leveraging existing networks to disseminate information to reach out to Kenyans, including using Members of Parliament.
"MPs have established channels of communication with their constituents. You may use them to reach out to the populace," Mayaka said.
The committee is expected to conduct a fact finding visit to the passport section to scrutinize the Passport application process, the collection as well as production areas.
