Interior CS Kithure Kindiki is burning the midnight oil in an effort to ensure the passport backlog is cleared within the shortest time.
Kindiki held an early morning meeting with senior officers from the Immigration Department at Nyayo House.
Also in attendance were Immigration and Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok and Immigration and Citizen Services Director General Evelyn Cheluget.
This was barely hours after he made an impromptu visit to Nyayo House on Thursday afternoon where he announced the backlog will be cleared in 10 days.
Kindiki in a statement said the meeting was aimed at reviewing the implementation of operational and policy reforms established to resolve delayed processing of passports.
Staff at the Immigration Department will be required to work in shifts including at night in the government effort to clear passport backlogs.
“The 10-day countdown to clear the historical backlog of pending 40,000 plus passport applications is on,” Kindiki said.
“Deployment of day and night shifts to facilitate full capacity printing of passports, procurement of modern printing equipment and recruitment of additional immigration officers will help us resolve the systemic challenges that have hampered service delivery,” he added.
Last week, the CS said the passport backlog stood at 58,000, with the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services processing approximately 5,000 passports daily.
Kindiki revealed that the ministry had made arrangements for more equipment but it is yet to arrive.
"As you are aware we must use the government procedures of procurement and so our hands are tied to how fast we can do some things," he noted.
However, the CS assured Kenyans that all cases of delay will be cleared within the said period.
