The Kenya passport has dropped its ranking in the world after being ranked as the 69th most powerful passport, down from 67 in January this year.
Latest data provided by the Henley Passport Index however still ranked it among the most powerful in Africa, as it maintained number 7 among African countries due to the number of visa-free entries.
Compared to other African countries, only Seychelles (26), Mauritius (29), South Africa (53), Botswana (60) Namibia and Lesotho (67), and Eswatini (69), ranked above Kenya.
Mauritius’ passport climbed a place from 30, while Botswana, Namibia, and Lesotho, and Eswatini also dropped rankings.
The data further revealed that holders of the Kenyan travel document can enjoy visa-free entries to 76 different destinations.
As such, Kenyan passport holders can enjoy visa free entries to African countries such as Lesotho, Madagascar, Rwanda, Mauritius, South Africa, Malawi, and Nigeria among many others.
Also, the document can grant holders entry to many destinations across the world including Trinidad & Tobago, Sri Lanka, Singapore, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica without requiring a visa.
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Strongest Passport
The strongest passports in the world on the other hand according to the index include those of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and Singapore.
These six countries tied at number one, with holders of travel documents from the countries enjoying visa-free entries to 194 destinations.
However, the report ranks Afghanistan (107), Syria (106), Iraq (105), Pakistan (104) and Yemen (103) among the least powerful passports, probably due to the warring situations within the countries.
On the other hand, Somalia (102), Libya (101), Eritrea (98), Sudan and Nigeria (96), South Sudan (95), Ethiopia and DRC Congo (94) ranked among the lowest in the African continent.
All the lowly ranked countries in Africa dropped places except for DRC Congo which maintained its earlier ranking.
The Henley Passport Index is an authoritative passport index updated monthly, including a total number of 199 different passports and 227 different possible travel destinations.
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Furthermore, it is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA).
Printing Kenya Passport
The ranking comes at a time the government through the Department of Immigration has heightened the issuance of passports.
Immigration and Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok while speaking in Mombasa on April 12, 2024, promised that the department would produce at least 1 million travel documents this year alone.
His remarks came after the department acquired two new printers with a combined capacity of 600 passports per hour that have already been delivered for installation in Nyayo House.
“We will be commissioning the new printers next week. We are determined to render delays in the issuance of passports a thing of the past as we have secured the necessary resources to procure sufficient booklets and other recurrent expenses,” he said.
The State Department of Immigration in a statement said that the installation is expected to reduce the waiting time for issuance of the travel document to less than 14 working days.
