The National Assembly’s Committee on National Administration and Internal Security wants new passport applications to be processed within three days.
Led by Committee Chair and Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo, the MPs likewise recommended the establishment of additional immigration offices nationwide to fast-track the passport application process.
As it stands, there are only eight immigration offices across the country, with many Kenyans forced to travel huge distances to apply for essential travel documents.
“With adequate resourcing, targeting a maximum of three days for applicants to be issued with passports is realistic. This should be feasible, especially with the opening of more offices in other parts of the country,” said Tongoyo.
The Committee spoke on Wednesday when Immigration PS Julius Bitok tabled the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services’ budget estimates for the 2024/25 Financial Year and supplementary estimates for FY 2023/24 before it.
Bitok told the Committee that the Immigration Department has been allocated Ksh15.151billion instead of the Ksh15.873B initially requested in the Budget Policy Statement.
Out of the aforesaid sum, Ksh10.145 billion will be allocated to the recurrent budget, with Ksh5.091 billion designated for development projects.
In the second Supplementary estimate for FY 2023/2024, the State Department’s revised budget amounted to Ksh12.633 billion, with the majority, Ksh9.136 billion, allocated to the recurrent budget.
In matters of passports, Bitok informed the Committee that the Immigration Department had effectively cleared a backlog of approximately 700,000 passports.
“With Parliament’s support, we have dealt with the issue of passport backlog and instituted important reforms, including creating two banking halls, buying two printers, and increasing personnel,” he said.
Additionally, the PS made a plea for increased funding to facilitate the rollout of the newly introduced digital ID, the Maisha Card, along with its supporting infrastructure as well as the Shirika Plan that proposes moving refugees out of camps by integrating them with host communities.
