Ombudsman finds Kenyans overcharged for passports

A new report has shown that Kenyans have been overcharged while acquiring a passport in some instances.

A Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) report released yesterday says it was also established that the Immigration Department lacks an internal policy or a procedure guiding and regulating issues that may arise out of passport processing such as editing and cancellation of applications.

It was also found that the department lacks a mechanism to automatically refund excess payments.

“The Commission undertook investigations into allegations that the Department of Immigration was overcharging citizens for passports. The investigation was triggered by several complaints made on social media,” said the Commission.

The revelation came as the Immigration Department separately issued a statement, regretting the inconveniences caused by a breakdown of a printing machine and disruption in supply of essential materials. According to the department, this has caused delays in processing passport applications.

The CAJ report showed that delays in passport processing and unavailability of a particular passport series on the e-citizen platform.