Garissa regional immigration office to open doors in two weeks

Residents of North Eastern have every reason to smile following the announcement that the Garissa Immigration office will be launched in two weeks.

They were shut down in 2014 following a wave of terror attacks. The state of insecurity tipped Maj-Gen (Rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa, the former immigration boss, to order closure.

This greatly inconvenienced passport applicants, especially pilgrims travelling to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The government was urged to re-open the offices because travelling to Nairobi was too expensive and inconvenient for the sick and elderly.

North Eastern Regional Commissioner John Otieno said  95 per cent of the facility was already renovated.

The office was scheduled to open on July 1, last year but the government failed to secure space.

“The government is keen to reopen the Immigration office in two weeks. The office will save time and money for people who want to access passport services,” he said.

 “As you can see most of the office arrangements are already in place including chairs, computers, CCTV security system and security office,” said the regional head during a tour of the offices,” he said.

Sources intimate that  President William Ruto will officially open the offices.

Addressing residents in Garissa town in June, Ruto said his administration said re-opening the offices was at the top of his administration's agenda.

Meanwhile, Otieno called out a section of government contractors for poor workmanship and others for intentionally delaying the completion of government projects to gain variation fees.

He urged government officials supervising projects to monitor contractors and ensure they deliver quality services.

“Some contractors have not done a good job and I want to take this opportunity to caution them to do a good job so that Kenyans can get value for Money,” Otieno said.

“Situations where projects are delayed intentionally for purposes of variation hence increasing the costs for the projects does not sit well for the government. The government intends to complete the projects in time,” he added.