A power outage at the Nyanza Immigration offices has affected the processing of passports in Kisumu as the office continues to witness an influx of applications.
Nyanza Regional Immigration Officer Joseph Anindo said the blackout occasioned by a fault in the electricity mains last week has affected service delivery at the office.
He said the office which processes up to 200 passports daily was experiencing delays with many applicants who are due to travel outside the country frustrated.
“We have experienced a power outage for the last one week which has affected our ability to process applications efficiently. We understand that many people are experiencing delays and we are working to resolve the issue,” he said.
The damage caused at the mains, he said, was massive, adding that officers from the Ministry of Works have done assessments on the extent of damage and a report forwarded to the Immigration headquarters in Nairobi for action.
In the meantime, he said measures have been put in place to borrow power from a neighbouring block which he however noted was limited and could not power all the services.
The office, he said, continues to receive huge applications from across the country adding that efforts were being made to restore the power.
“Kenyans have the fundamental right to apply for a passport anywhere in the country. This is why we see applicants from various regions coming to Kisumu,” he said.
Anindo assured that despite the high number of applications, the office has enough personnel, equipment, and materials to handle the workload.
By Quinter Atieno and Stanley Kayaga
