• Procurement teams at the Immigration deparment have been tranferred.
• 17 Immigration Department staffers prosecuted for graft at department
Image: MINA
The National Intelligence Service has taken the lead role in procuring passport booklets in efforts by the government to deescalate tender wars that may threaten production of the crucial travel document.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki revealed this during a meeting called by MPs on Thursday to deal with the passport crisis in the country.
“NIS has been supporting us with the procurement of the booklets and we have made tremendous progress since then,” the CS told the Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia-led Regional Integration Committee.
The CS said the Immigration Department procurement officers and police officers at Nyayo House have been transferred.
“We are committed to cleaning up the place. We have started at a good pace and I believe we will get there and resolve this crisis permanently,” Kindiki said.
To improve efficiency, the CS said the ministry has negotiated with the National Treasury to allow the Immigration Department retain Sh3 billion annually.
He disclosed that this is the money being used to pay outstanding supplier debts, which was blamed for delaying procurement of passport booklets and printers.
“We are pushing for the amount to be increased to Sh5 billion. With this, we anticipate the department’s revenue will jump from Sh20 billion to Sh100 billion annually,” Kindiki said.
The CS said the backlog stands at about 724,000 applications.
He blamed the situation on disruptions in the international supply chain of world class passports approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
He said while the government needed more than three million booklets every 90 days, the suppliers can only manage half.
“The process of acquiring the raw material does not match the surge in demand for passports in the country. The suppliers have been clear that they cannot provide a solution considering the pace at which we want the material,” the CS said.
He cited the war in Ukraine as among the factors affecting the supplies, saying the situation has made it difficult for the government to fulfil the promise of passports within seven days.
The CS said the challenge of inadequate budgetary allocation, which hampered the process has since been resolved, citing the support of Parliament.
“We have money and staff but the raw material is coming slowly. It will take a few months for us to achieve the pledge of passport within seven days,” Kindiki said.
The Interior CS said the challenge of delayed printing is likely to persist, pledging to bring to an end the mess in about 100 days.
“The ugly picture at Nyayo House is disrespectful to the people of Kenya. It is not right and I cannot promise that it will end tonight. We will, however, find a solution to the crowding in a fortnight,” Kindiki said.
The CS said going forward, he will take the lead in handling the public communications about passports.
“I will take responsibility for the resolution of the passports mess. We are also cracking down on graft elements in the system,” Kindiki said.
He said 17 staffers have been prosecuted on charges of corruption.
But MPs at the committee cited the possibility of sabotage in the efforts to clean up the mess at Nyayo House.
Wundanyi MP Dan Mwashako asked, “Are you getting enough support from your PS [Julius Bitok]? We feel your team is letting you down.”
Muhia said, “Can we get a plant for producing the booklets and supply to our neighbours too? We can get the materials and Kenya can be the distributor.”
“We cannot have a situation where Kenyans sit without hope of getting a passport unless they part with a bribe.”
“We have to get a solution. Not that we don’t have raw material,” Muhia said.
Fafi MP Yakub Salah said, “Why is the situation of backlog still the same? Someone is sleeping on the job.”
The government said the surge in demand resulted from the labour agreements the government entered into with Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Serbia, Russia, United Kingdom and Kuwait.
Disclosures made at the meeting showed that since July when government signed a contract for procurement of 305,000 booklets, the numbers are yet to be supplied.
It emerged that the production is taking six to nine months, with documents showing that the supplier delivered 30,000 passports in October and another 100,000 in January this year.
“The next consignment of 168,000 passports will be delivered by mid-March. Notably the disruption in the international market has negatively affected timely delivery of passport booklets,” the CS said.