President Kenyatta has directed that all Kenyans in diaspora be issued with new generation passports in their countries of residence instead of having to travel home to acquire the same.
Mr Kenyatta, who was on a state visit in Namibia, issued the order to the immigration department and the Foreign Affairs ministry on Thursday when he met Kenyans living and working in the southern African nation.
“Form a team that will go from country to country to register Kenyans in the diaspora. No Kenyan should be forced to spend money to travel to Kenya to get passports,” he said at the Windhoek Country Club.
He said he saw no reason why Kenyans living outside the country should incur huge financial costs to travel back home to Nairobi to acquire the new passports.
The president was responding to requests by Kenyans at the meeting who raised concerns over the difficulties they go through to acquire the new document.
Early last month, director-general of the department Alex Muteshi said they had put in place mechanisms to enable Kenyans to renew and acquire new-generation passports in Paris, Berlin, Washington, London, Dubai and Johannesburg in the next two months.
Majority of Kenyans in Namibia immigrated following an MoU signed between the Kenyan and Namibian governments in 2002 through which many health professionals, especially nurses, secured employment in the Southern Africa country.
President Kenyatta assured the nurses who are returning to Kenya from Namibia after the end of their contracts that they will get their jobs back when they get back home.
