More than 60,000 applicants who have been awaiting their Kenyan passports will receive them in the next three weeks.
According to Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Prof. Julius Bitok, 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.
According to the Immigration Department, 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.
PS Bitok has revealed that 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.
Also Read: Three People Shot in Embakasi as Supporters Of MP, Opponent Clash
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.
Bitok also urged more Kenyans to use the e-Citizen platform to apply for passports and take advantage of the digitization of government services.
