Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has now revealed that new applicants can expect to receive their passports within 21 days of submitting their applications.
In a statement shared on Monday, May 13, Kindiki disclosed that the Interior Ministry has successfully addressed the historical backlog of 724,000 passports that had accumulated between June 2021 and March 2024.
“Going forward, all new applicants will receive their passports within 21 days from the date of application, while urgent cases will receive theirs immediately,” Kindiki announced.
Kindiki said that out of this backlog, 684,500 passports have already been collected by their respective holders.
Kindiki attributed the delay in clearing the backlog to various factors including securing funding from the exchequer, settling pending debts with suppliers, dismantling corruption cartels, and procuring and installing modern, high-capacity printing equipment.
“All 724,000 passports that were part of the historical backlog that had accumulated between June 2021 and March 2024 have now been printed, and 684,500 of them have already been collected by their holders. It took a bit of time to get exchequer funding, pay pending supplier debts, dismantle the corruption cartels, and acquire and install modern, high-capacity printing equipment,” Kindiki stated.
The CS said the focus now shifts towards expediting the collection of the remaining 39,500 passports from the backlog.
He also highlighted the need for efficiency improvements in archival, record management, registry, and Information Technology management.
“What remains now is to fastrack the collection of 39,500 ready but uncollected passports from the backlog lot, sustaining the production and delivery systems to ensure that the reform program prevails in the long term and creating system efficiency in the archival, record management, registry and Information Technology management.”
Kindiki outlined the timeline for further reductions in passport processing times.
He said effective August 1, 2024, the waiting period will be reduced to just 7 days, with a further reduction to 3 days taking effect from November 1, 2024.
Kindiki said he conducted a service delivery efficiency review meeting at Nyayo House to asses the progress firsthand.
During the visit, he inspected the production, registry, and archival facilities while also engaging with passport applicants to gather feedback and ideas for improvement.
“Effective August 1, 2024, the waiting period will be reduced to 7 days and further to 3 days effective November 1, 2024. Today at Nyayo House, held a service delivery efficiency review meeting, inspected the production, registry, and archival facilities, and had an interaction with passport applicants to pick new ideas on improvement areas,” Kindiki said.
