Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration Kithure Kindiki has banned idlers from hanging around Immigration and Citizen Services offices at Nyayo House, Nairobi, as the government seeks to clean up the mess linked to delayed processing of passports.
In a statement, Kindiki said access to the facility will be limited to the staff and passport applicants in new measures aimed at driving out brokers and eliminating bribery at the government offices.
He warned that idlers and passport brokers will face the full force of the law.
“No person will be allowed to hang around the precincts of Nyayo House and security officers will strictly enforce law and order, and apprehend any person soliciting bribes from applicants of passports and other citizenship documents,” Kindiki said on Friday.
Kindiki visits Nyayo House
The CS issued the directive after visiting Nyayo House to monitor operations at the Immigration Department for the second day in a row.
According to Kindiki, since his last visit to the offices yesterday, tremendous progress has been recorded.
The CS noted that the ongoing policy and operational reforms at Nyayo House will be extended to all immigration offices countrywide, to facilitate efficient service delivery.
“Zero tolerance to corruption is non-negotiable and all persons seeking services at the Immigration department must be treated with courtesy,” Kindiki averred.
To streamline service delivery, Kindiki said, emergency desks had been established to expedite the processing of passports for applicants seeking medical care abroad, students destined to learning institutions abroad and persons who have secured job opportunities in foreign countries and have reporting deadlines.
“Expectant and lactating mothers, parents or guardians accompanying minors, the elderly and persons with disability will also be accorded special attention at the immigration desks,” he added.
The CS assured that the government was committed to clearing the current passport backlog within the next two weeks.
“As we work to address with finality, the production challenges through acquisition of modern printing machines, recruit additional immigration officers and improve the department’s infrastructure, all efforts and manpower has been deployed to clear the passport processing backlog within 14 days,” Kindiki revealed.
Kindiki had last week attributed delays in the processing of travel documents to massive corruption at Nyayo House.
Appearing before the Regional Integration Committee at Parliament Buildings on Thursday, August 24, the Kindiki admitted that corrupt officials were taking bribes for government services offered at no cost.
“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.
“I will clean up Nyayo House once and for all. If need be we will seal off Nyayo House and declare it a scene of crime,” the CS added.
“How do Kenyans cue from 6 AM? It won’t be business as usual. We must clean up Nyayo House.”
A day after the CS appeared before the committee four suspected passport brokers were arrested at Nyayo House for taking advantage of desperate members of the public for self-gain.
The suspects were identified as Josphat Khamandi Manyonyi, Howard Tsimbagi alias Button, Ahmed Ibrahim Sheikh, and Hassan Mohamed Hosman.
