Passport printing grinds to a halt after power blackout
Director of Immigration Gordon Kihalang’wa. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Applications for the document are usually made in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu offices.
- EAC directed its members to begin issuance of the new passport by January 31.
A power outage at the Immigration Department’s Nyayo House offices in Nairobi last week interrupted the printing of passports.
The outage was reported on Thursday last week and, although printing resumed on Monday evening, there was a huge backlog of applications.
Director of Immigration Gordon Kihalang’wa said the system was down but is now running.
He told the Nation the printers were temporarily affected by the near nationwide power outage.
“Technicians worked on the systems over the weekend and managed to restore them on Monday at 3 pm. We are working round the clock to clear the backlog,” he said.
NYAYO HOUSE
Applications for the document are usually made in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu offices but the processing is done at Nyayo House.
This is the fourth time the power surge has affected the system at the department, almost bringing services to a halt.
“At the same time, we are consulting with Kenya Power to resolve the matter as the surge has affected our systems before,” he said.
Last year, Kenya began issuing single electronic East African Community (EAC) passports, replacing the readable East African and ordinary passport issued by the member states.
EAC directed its members to begin issuance of the new passport by January 31.
The new e-passport database is enhanced with an Automated Fingerprint Verification System to minimise fraud, identity theft, forgery and passport skimming.
