Nairobi — The Immigration Department will process new passport applications within seven days beginning July, the Interior ministry has announced.

Speaking while delivering his second public accountability statement on Wednesday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki committed to the processing of emergency applications within 24 hours.

He said the new timelines will come into force after the ministry restores a broken down passport printer blamed for a spiraling backlog standing at 42,000 as of Wednesday.

Kindiki however said the printer will be up and running by the end of the first week of June with all pending passports expected to be processed within twenty-one days thereafter (June 30).

"We have taken urgent remedial measure to correct that problem. I plead for patience and within 7 days, we will restore the broken equipment and we already have stocks that arrived on Friday which can help us clear the backlog and also help us with the normal ongoing applications," the CS told news reported at Harambee House.

Rampant corruption

The Interior CS said he had received complaints from some members of the public who have expressed frustrations regarding immigrations officials who have asked for bribes to fast track their applications.

He added that the government will make far-reaching administrative changes within the Department of Immigration to "make sure that we make it impossible for any person to ask for a bribe from a Kenyan to provide passport services."

The Interior CS put corrupt immigrations officials on notice saying they will face the law.

"Any person within our offices who is giving the government a bad name, we will just treat you as a criminal. In my many responsibilities, I am going to supervise that exercise myself," he warned.