The government has admitted that corruption is so endemic at the Immigration Department at Nyayo House that it's contemplating sealing it off as a crime scene.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki says he has received credible intel that among the contributing factors to delayed passport processing at the office is corruption.
The CS told Parliament that he will take leadership in cleaning up the mess in the agencies that fall within his ministry.
"We will take very drastic action, if need be we will seal off the place and declare it a scene of crime. We will rid that place of all criminals including the brokers who extort money around there," he said.
Kindiki spoke on Thursday while appearing before the National Administration and Internal Security Committee of the National Assembly.
The committee while taking note of growing complaints from Kenyans about delays in acquiring passports summoned the CS for an explanation.
A number of Kenyans say they applied for the travel document as early as January this year but they are yet to receive it.
Kindiki told the MPs he had been aware of the problem for quite a while.
"In my second accountability problem which I gave in May, I admitted we have a problem with Immigration and I want to commit that I will provide leadership there," he said.
"We will clean Nyayo House from corruption, from all manner of crimes. There are good officers there serving Kenyans patriotically but they are few. that is the problem. There are others there collecting bribes and harassing the people of Kenya to get services which they should be getting for free and as their rights," he added.
Nine months ago on November 29, 2022, Kindiki covertly visited Nyayo House with a view to finding out the challenges the Immigration department was facing in the issuance of passports.
He arrived in a low-key motorcade during the surprise visit in a cap and suit and interacted with some of those present.
Kindiki said the government would look into the bottlenecks behind the delayed processing of passports and implement relevant solutions a week after the department said they had run low on passport stock for several months.
But the CS told MPs endemic corruption is to blame for the perennial delays and expressed regret that Kenyans start queueing as early as 6am.
"I will take the challenge which has been given to me, I will spend a bit more time physically to provide the leadership that we require and clean up that Nyayo House place. Many people have suffered from that place."
Kindiki revealed that he has spoken to both the PS and Director of Immigration and agreed on what to do adding "it's not going to be business as usual".
