Kenneth Ogosia
19 November 2009
Nairobi — Thousands of passports which have remained uncollected over the last six years will be cancelled in a month.
Director of Immigration Albert Musasia said on Thursday those were the passports applied for between April 2003 and November 12, 2009.
The move is likely to affect thousands of Kenyans who have not collected the travel document for one reason or the other.
Union of Kenya Civil Servants Secretary General Tom Odege said the ministry should publish the names of those who have not collected the passports to avoid punishing innocent people.
“Some of the passports could have been applied for by criminals and instead the records should be used by security agencies to help in investigations,” he said.
Mr Musasia also announced that civil servants in the Ministry of Immigration would now work up to 8pm.
The changes will only affect those working in Nairobi, he said.
The director urged the wananchi to take advantage of the extra time.
Mr Odege asked the ministry to state whether the extra time would attract allowances for its staff in Nairobi.
“We need to know if the rule is mandatory or not because there are several factors to be considered such as allowances, plight of the disabled and married women given the security and transport problems in Nairobi,” the union boss said.
He said such decisions should be arrived at by stakeholders and stated that even in performance contracting, the time line is the official government working hours.
Mr Odege said the ministry should guarantee the workers security through privately arranged transport because the move would put them at risk.
He said married women should be exempted from the rule since it would threaten family stability.
The unionist said passports were sensitive documents requiring thorough security checks.
Copyright © 2009 The Nation. All rights reserved.
Commentaires