Report: Over half a million Kenyans acquired passports in the last three years

Passport Applicants at the Immigration Department at Nyayo House, Nairobi on August 31,2023.[FILE/Standard] More than half a million Kenyans have been issued with passports since the Kenya Kwanza administration came into office three years ago. This is according to a progress report by the Governance and Public Administration (GPA) Subcommittee of the National Development Implementation Committee (NDIC). The sub-committee reported that under the past three years, 514,152 passports have been issued. The report indicated that while progress has been made in clearing application backlogs, challenges remain. According to GPA subcommittee, the backlog of uncollected passports has been reduced from 90,000 to 56,000 in the last three months. The update was presented during the Subcommittee's 12th meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), chaired by Dr. Raymond Omollo, the Principal Secretary for Internal Security and National Administration, and Dr. Aurelia Rono, Principal Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs, serving as vice-chair. Further, the report stated that within the same period, the state has rolled out the Unique Personal Identifier, also known as Maisha Number, which is a digital identity that will replace fragmented ID systems. The identifier is designed to consolidate a person's key records, including birth certificate number, National ID, KRA PIN, and Social Health Authority (SHA) number, into one integrated system. To date, 90,038 Maisha Numbers have been issued in Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, and Kajiado counties. The committee noted that over 22,000 government services have been digitized on the e-Citizen platform and 48 agencies are connected to the Maisha Integrated Database. The GPA Subcommittee also reported progress on pending laws in Parliament. Eight bills and policies have been concluded and approved, while 10 others, along with 17 statutory instruments, are awaiting approval. Some of the bills include the Public Participation Bill, the Whistleblowers Bill, and the Anti-Corruption Bill. According to the subcommittee, the bills were meant to reinforce the Government's commitment to strengthening public trust, transparency, and accountability through more active civic engagement. "To ensure wider public participation, the Government has undertaken national radio and television programming, vernacular language outreach, and collaboration with civil society across 14 counties," the report stated. On security, the subcommittee said the government was still pursuing peace and rehabilitation programs in the North Rift, an area long troubled by banditry. The update noted that the County Government of West Pokot had provided land for the reconstruction of Chesegon and Ksaa primary schools. Additionally, GPA pointed to ongoing reforms within the police, prisons, and National Youth Service (NYS). These include the implementation of Phase 2 of the salary and allowances review, a medical scheme, titling of police land, and restructuring of security units.

Report: Over half a million Kenyans acquired passports in the last three years

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Report: Over half a million Kenyans acquired passports in the last three years

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