GARISSA, Kenya, Feb 6 — Residents of Garissa and surrounding counties can breathe a sigh of relief following the opening of a new passports office.
President William Ruto who presided over the opening of the new office located
in Garissa town and that will also offer other Immigration services said the station was in line with the policy of ensuring all citizens have equal access to government services.
He said the opening of the office was also a fulfillment of his administration electoral pledge to restore passport printing services after they were stopped in
2014.
Garissa and other regional offices ceased issuing passports to comply with the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommendations for centralized printing of passports and other travel documents to reinforce their security from forgery and other manipulations.
However, investments in a modern and integrated e-Passport Management
System has enabled the Directorate of Immigration to decentralize passport
application process while adhering to ICAO and other global passport security
guidelines.
Besides Garissa county, the new Immigration office will offer convenience to Mandera, Wajir and parts of Tana River, Lamu, Kitui and Isiolo counties saving
applicants expenses in transport and time currently spent accessing services in
Nairobi and other regional offices.
10 passport centres
Garissa becomes the 10th passport application centre in Kenya and the third to be
opened by President Ruto after Kericho and Bungoma.
The others are Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Embu, Eldoret and Kisii.
Immigration nad Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok said the reopening of the Garissa
office and the elimination of vetting for national ID cards applicants for residents
of border counties will promote fairness and equality in access to identity and
registration documents.
He said with the stoppage of vetting, the Garissa Immigration office was expected
to witness a high demand for passports applications.
“Yesterday (Wednesday) in Wajir, the President signed a proclamation vacating
vetting for ID cards in North Eastern region and other border counties. With the
new Immigration office in Garisa, we believe eligible applicants will flock in big
numbers to apply for passports and other services.”
The new office will have a dedicated migrant labour desk for fast-tracked
passport applications for those pursuing foreign job opportunities.
It will also be central in providing passports to around 2,000 Hajj Pilgrims and travelers for medical, studies, business, social and leisure visits.
According to SUPKEM Chairperson Hassan Ole Naado, over 50 per cent of Hajj pilgrims come from the Northeastern Region.
This year, Kenya has been allocated 4,500 slots for Haji that must obtain relevant visas by April in time for the religious gathering in May.
