Bitok promises 1mn passports as govt acquires 2 new printers » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 12 — The Department of Immigration has promised to produce at least 1 million passports this year alone after it acquired two new printers with a combined capacity of 600 passports per hour.

Immigration and Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok also said the department would issue three million digital National IDs during the same period.

“We will be commissioning the new printers next week. We are determined to render delays in the issuance of passports a thing of the past as we have secured the necessary resources to procure sufficient booklets and other recurrent
expenses.”

The PS who spoke in Mombasa during the annual planning meeting of senior managers for agencies and directorates under the State Department said two new passport printing machines have already been delivered for installation in Nyayo House.

Their installation is expected to reduce the waiting time for issuing passports to less than 14 working days, the State Department of Immigration said in a statement on Friday.

The new passports target is nearly double the 533,000 issued in the previous year with the higher output pegged on the combined printing capacity of the new machines.

To decentralise access to passports, permits and other services, the Directorate of Immigration will also open new offices in Nyeri, Bungoma and Garissa and invest in
government-owned passport and border management systems to provide real-time data on the entry and exit of all travellers.

Bitok said the new targets are part of an ambitious drive to make it easier for Kenyans to access registration documents.

Sh1bn revenue target

The government also hopes to raise the revenue generated from its services which is collected on the eCitizen digital platform to a daily average of Sh1 billion during the same period.

“We believe these are realistic targets based on the strategic improvements and investments that we have made to our vital personal registration and documentation systems,” the PS said.

Also targeted for a major boost in generated revenue is the issuance of electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) that replaced entry visas to the country with the government hoping for at least five million visitors. President William Ruto
abolished all visas as requirement to visit Kenya from January this year.

He said the government will issue 1.2 million digital National ID cards to first-time applicants and 1.6 million duplicate IDs to build on to the 733,000 Maisha cards it has issued so far.

In line with the presidential directive, the vetting of ID applicants in Northern Kenya and other border regions as a prerequisite for registration will cease beginning next month.

Digitizing records

Also on target is the digitisation of 46 million records on births and deaths in the country held by the Civil Registration Services and 2 million records under the custody of the National Registration Bureau.

On eCitizen, it is projected that the number of services available on the platform will grow to 20,000 from the current 16,000 pushing the total number of average daily users to above one million.

“We are continuously innovating and improving the user experience on eCitizen. We want as many clients as possible to enjoy the convenience that it provides so that we can also hit our targets of generating revenue for the government,” said the PS.

On the management of refugees which is also under the State Department, the PS said the government will expedite the implementation of the Shirika Plan which provides for integrated settlement of nearly 700,000 refugees currently in Kakuma and Daadab camps located in Turkana and Garissa counties respectively.

Also planned for is the fast-tracking of documentation and registration of around 200,000 illegal immigrants and displaced foreigners believed to be in the country.

The PS further revealed that the Department had undertaken extensive data protection impact assessment for its operations in compliance with the Data Protection Act.

It had also hosted over 50 stakeholder forums on its programs and projects and partnered with other government agencies in critical national activities such as tree planting and the registration of farmers for subsidised fertiliser and seedlings.

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