Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has revealed that the delay in processing passports is due to widespread corruption at Nyayo House.
At a hearing with the Regional Integration Committee on Thursday, August 24, Kindiki conceded that government officials are accepting bribes for services that are supposed to be free. Despite the backlog being attributed to a broken printer, Kindiki assured the committee that efforts are being made to clean up the corruption at the immigration offices. He even threatened to declare Nyayo House a crime scene if necessary. The current passport backlog stands at 58,000, causing many Kenyans to wait in long queues from early in the morning.
“I have received credible intelligence that could suggest that part of our problem in the processing of passports is a corruption problem. There are good officers who are there serving the country patriotically but there are others collecting bribes and harassing the people of Kenya to get services that they should be getting for free,” Kindiki told the committee.
On a daily basis, Immigration and Citizen Services handles around 5,000 passport applications. The department is striving to issue passports within seven days but aims to reduce that waiting time to three days in the future and even 24 hours in emergencies. However, Kenyans will still have to wait 21 days for their identity cards to be processed. In the pipeline is a plan to sub out the current cards with a digital Maisha number that will hold dual usage as a Death Certificate identifier following the passing of a person. The various initiatives are currently in progress.
“Interior Cabinet Secretary…
“Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has revealed that the delay in processing passports is due to widespread corruption at Nyayo House.”
Stories of citizens of other countries garnering Kenyan Passport,and thus citizenships ,so that they may emigrate,or immigrate to other countries have circulated for years.So what CS Kindiki is articulationg is nothing new;and so it lack of doing anything.Unfortunately corrupt officials are laughing at him.Some probably asking him,” Wewe Mkenya kweli”?
The question I have for the larger concerned citizens of Kenya is,”what are you going to do about this”. People you elected to serve you are the ones frustrating you.To do nothing is to encourage their behavior.This has to STOP.
Let us at least have the Immigration boss respond to these accusations/allegations.
Finally, these are the kind of issues that should make our “uncorrupted” leaders lead demostrations to the Nyayo House.Where are they?
This has been happening…
This has been happening since the heinous Moi days. Why has it taken that long to know about it Mr. Kindiki, boggles one’s mind. You should be telling us how you are planning to face this seven-headed dragon with rolled-up sleeves and boots, instead!!!
Bure kabisa!
Act now, not tomorrow.
The Kenyan Economy was…
The Kenyan Economy was bigger than Ethiopia, Currently Ethiopia is leading,they’ve been admitted to BRICS, their Airlines industry leading in Africa while KQ struggling…Rwanda and Tanzania economy growth closing in..In Jamhuri corruption totally suffocated the Country.
Just wear a camera…
Just wear a camera undercover and nail these corrupt pp one by one. What’s up with Public servants talking without action
@ Simamaimara, nailing these…
@ Simamaimara, nailing these corrupt people is not the problem.May I remind you that some of them are known. THe problem is the lack of desire among the people with power to do something.Which leads to the obvious conclusion-that’s where they get the extra cash to lavish on their side chick,buy 2,3and 4th cars,take their children to schools in USA,donate some token cash at Harambees,and regularly fly out of the country for whatever…Nyayo House is”E-house” Extra pesa House.
Nyayo House is a complete…
Nyayo House is a complete nightmare. I completed a visa application last April on E-Visa and kept on getting denied eti my passport picture was upside down. I had to pay someone $100 in order to be issued the visa and imagine nilikuwa naleta dollars nchini. What is even annoying is that my mzungu wife’s visa was approved without a hitch. Kenya can go to hell.