Relief for Northern Kenya as Ruto opens passport office in Garissa

President William Ruto on Thursday officially unveiled Kenya’s 10th immigration office in Garissa County to ease the process of acquiring passports for Northern Kenya residents.

The Garissa outlet is the third such centre to be opened by President Ruto, following those in Kericho and Bungoma. Other passport application centres are located in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Embu, Eldoret and Kisii.

The new immigration office will provide added convenience for residents of Mandera, Wajir, and parts of Tana River, Lamu, Kitui and Isiolo counties, helping applicants save on transportation costs and time currently spent travelling to Nairobi and other regional offices for services.

Speaking at the event, Ruto noted that the launch of the centre aligns with his administration's policy of ensuring equal access to government services for all citizens.

He added that the centre fulfils his electoral promise to restore passport printing services in the region, which were halted in 2014.

Garissa and other regional offices ceased issuing passports to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommendations for centralized printing of passports and other travel documents to reinforce their security from forgery and other manipulations.

However, investments in a modern and integrated e-passport Management System has enabled the Directorate of Immigration to decentralize the passport application process while adhering to ICAO and other global passport security guidelines.

According to Immigration & Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok, the reopening of the Garissa office and the elimination of vetting for national ID card applicants for residents of border counties will promote fairness and equality in access to identity and registration documents.

“Yesterday (Wednesday) in Wajir, the President signed a proclamation vacating vetting for ID cards in North Eastern region and other border counties. With the new Immigration office in Garissa, we believe eligible applicants will flock in big numbers to apply for passports and other services,” said PS Bitok.

The new office will have a dedicated migrant labour desk for fast-tracked passport applications for those pursuing foreign job opportunities. It will also be central in providing passports to around 2,000 Hajj Pilgrims and travellers for medical, studies, business, social and leisure visits.