Passports –Government has announced that it will be publishing in the newspaper names of Kenyans who have not collected their passports from Nyayo House and other parts of the country.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki, today Tuesday September 19, announced that the huge number of uncollected booklets had informed their decision.
“Every week, we are going to publicise in the media, website, the state department for immigration website and social media, all the applicants who must collect their passports the following week,” said Kindiki hinting that the publishing will be done on Wednesdays.
The CS also clarified that these measures are aimed at hastening the decongestion exercise at the Nyayo House where the national printing takes place.
He pointed out that his ministry had revised working hours especially in the passport production unit which he said the staff is now working from 7.00AM to 9.00PM, every day.
The CS, therefore, seized the opportunity to ask all citizens who have their passports lying idle at various pickup points across the country to pick them within the next thirty days.
Making the announcement today in Nairobi, Kindiki revealed that a whopping 87,574 passports were still lying uncollected by the owners.
“We are commencing a rapid results initiative for the delivery of uncollected passports and all beneficiaries must collect them within the time period specified,” he stated.
“This period will start running from Monday, September 25, to allow members of the public receive adequate notices as to the availability of their passports and the place it is lying and the notice to collect those passports.”
Speaking during the launch of the Rapid Results Initiative RRI at the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, the CS further said the printing was on course and Kenyans who had applied have to also pick them so that to continue printing out more.
The CS also confirmed that the department of immigration had procured more passport printing machines to expedite the exercise of production.
Prof Kindiki said there are so many uncollected passport booklets which were produced and ready three months ago but still not taken by applicants from various parts of the country.
He singled out Nairobi County as the leading is uncollected number of passports at 36,170 followed by Mombasa County with 5,424 applicants.
Kindiki said, currently, the immigration department is working hard to clear the backlog of 120,000 passports.
