President William Ruto on Thursday reopened the Garissa Immigration Office which had been closed in 2014 during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure.
The office was shut down following a series of terror attacks in the region and across the country. Security concerns prompted then-immigration Chief Maj-Gen (Rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa to order its closure.
Following the reopening of the offices, the Head of State announced that the office would help bring services closer to the people in the region.
Ruto also issued title deeds to Garissa County residents, stating that this was the highest number ever distributed by any administration.
President William Ruto(left, in a hat) accompanied by other leaders, including Immigration PS Julius Bitok during the opening of Garissa Immigration offices on February 6, 2025.
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”Officially opened the Garissa Immigration Office and issued more than 10,000 title deeds to the residents, the highest number since our independence,” Ruto stated.
”We have put in place mechanisms that will ensure the people of Garissa and neighbouring counties don’t travel all the way to Nairobi to have their passports processed.”
The office is set to offer services to the neighboring counties of Mandera, Wajir, and parts of Tana River, Lamu, Kitui, and Isiolo.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) made a raft of recommendations for the centralised printing of passports and other travel documents to reinforce their security from forgery and other manipulations in the early 2000s following the 9/11 attacks in the United States of America.
As a result, the Kenyan government shut down several passport printing offices outside Nairobi.
However, with the procurement of the e-Passport Management System, the government later reversed this decision, allowing the reopening of regional passport printing offices.
President Ruto, during his tour of the region, signed an executive order on Wednesday stopping the compulsory vetting of Identification card applicants in the Northeastern region.
Speaking earlier in Mandera on Tuesday, February 4, Ruto stated that the process was discriminatory as it only applied to residents of a select group of Kenyans from the six counties of Tana River, Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Isiolo, and Marsabit.
President William Samoei Ruto signing the Presidential Proclamation on Registration and Issuance of IDs to Border Counties in Wajir County on Wednesday, February 5, 2025.
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