Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has announced that the government will re-open the Garissa Immigration Offices starting July this year.
Prof. Kindiki, who made a tour of various security installations in the region on Friday, said the move was part of the Kenya Kwanza administration’s efforts to enhance equal access to government services.
The offices were shut down in 2014 over a wave of terror attacks and insecurity in the country.
The CS also announced that the government will inject Ksh.20 billion to modernise equipment and other facilities for various security agencies.
“Tulikuwa hapa na ofisi ya uhamiaji ambayo ilifungwa. Nataka nitangaze ya kwamba, tutafungua ofisi mpya ya kupeana passports za Kenya hapa Garissa kuanzia tarehe moja mwezi ujao,” Kindiki said.
Former Immigration boss Gordon Kihalangwa ordered the closure of the Eastern Regional immigration offices in Garissa eight years ago.
At the time, Kihalangwa said closing down the offices was necessitated by the need to allow the department to review its procedures in an attempt to seal the operational loopholes that had allowed aliens to access crucial immigration documents.
The directive affected three other regional offices in Embu, Nakuru and Eldoret, forcing residents of those counties to seek passport issuance services in Nairobi.
Garissa residents have welcomed the decision to re-open the regional immigration offices.
“Tulikuwa tunasafiri hadi Nairobi shida baada ya kuapply passports pia inachukua time,” Hussein Ali, a resident said.
Abdikadir Hassan added: “Tunafurahia na kufunguliwa kwa ofisi ya uhamiaji kwa sababu ilikuwa ni challenge kutravel hadi another county.”
The Interior CS also visited several specialised security units in Garissa to commend officers who thwarted a series of planned terror attacks in the last 3 weeks.
Prof. Kindiki added that the government has introduced a two-fold model of policing; General Service Policing that will focus on day-to-day crimes and specialised policing that will entail dealing with high-risk modern crime and security threats.
Tumetoa bilioni ishirini ya kuboresha vifaa vya ofisaa wetu wa usalama ili kuhakikisha kwamba maofisa wetu wako na magari yaliyolindwa na nguo na vifaa za kujilinda wakati wanaenda shughuli hii. The days of terrorists, harassing us, killing our security officers, government officers, that time, that period is over,” Kindiki emphasized.
The modernization will see the security sector acquire modern aircraft and firearms as well as the purchase of the latest technologies to help the country effectively deal with modern-day security threats.
