Africa-Press – Kenya. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has said all the applications for a new passport will be cleared within 7 days. Speaking while addressing the media, Kindiki said the ministry is also working towards making sure that all pending passport applications will be cleared in the next 21 days.
“I want to pledge on behalf of my colleagues in the ministry that we will clear all the backlog of passports within the next 21 days and from that date. If it is classified as an urgent or emergency application, one must get that passport within 24 hours,” he said.
“We will make sure that anybody who applies for a new passport must get it within 7 days.”
In April, Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok 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.”
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