Terrorism or Corruption; Reasons why Garissa passport centre might not re-open anytime.

Garissa passport issuance centre still remains closed for five years despite several promises by the government to re- open it . Garissa centre which was the only one serving the people of Northern Kenya was closed indefinitely in 2014 amid an increasing terrorist attacks in Wajir, Garissa and Mandera.

Last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta along with other leaders from Garissa county commissioned Modika Barracks , the barracks will be home to three army fighting units and three support sub-units is part of a program meant to modernize and improve the capability of Kenya Defense Forces, according to information posted on State House Kenya Facebook page.

Before the arrival of President Uhuru Kenyatta, there were rumors all over that the reviving of Garissa passport centre will be part Uhuru’s program, That did not happen and people from this region still travel to other counties to get this important document, a move that continues to inconvenience people from this region .Moreso the Kenyan/ Somalis are subjected to thorough screening when getting the document which is quite a strenuous process.

On September, 2014 , the government of Kenya through the Ministry of Immigration Department issued a memo which directed the closure of five passport centre in the country among them Garissa . The memo stated that the move had been necessitated by the global standard practice to centralize the issuance of passports and the need to safeguard the integrity of the Kenyan passport.

The then State Department of Immigration Principal secretary (PS) Maj. Gen(Rtd) Dr. Gordon Kihalangwa said in the memo that the country needed to centralize the issuance of passport in a bid the cub the increasing terrorism menace in Northern region.

“Considering the prevailing insecurity, this practice does not work in national interest. Devolution is good but we cannot devolve security which remains the domain on the national government,” said Kihalangwa in the memo of September 11.

Major-General Kihalangwa also said the centralisation of passport issuance will also ease the linkage with birth registration and acquisition of the identity cards among other important documents.

“The documents have a symbiotic relation that cannot be ignored. In our case, we have (previously) decentralized the issuance of passports to six satellite stations and five Kenyan missions abroad besides Nairobi,” the memo states.

In 2019 alone , Hundreds of Muslims in Kenya failed to attend the annual pilgrimage to the Great Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj on time , there were instances where some were forced to pay bribes in exchange of the document, others used their connections to get their clearance done.

In June, this year ,The Supreme Council of Kenya held a press conference in Garisaa county terming the move by the immigration department of vetting Muslims seeking passports as discriminatory and an infringement of their rights.

Abdullahi Suleiman, Garissa regional supkem chairman criticized the officers at the immigration arguing that Muslims had got every right like other Kenyans to get such an important document.

“Surely, as Muslims we want to categorically say that we have had enough of this. We can no longer continue being treated like second class citizens in our own country,” the chairman said.

Abdullahi comments came weeks after Garisaa Township MP and Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale hinted that a special desk had been set at the immigration department to ease arrangement for Muslims planning to travel to Mecca for Hajj.

The other main reason why the re-opening of Garissa passport center hope remains a mirage is the long porous boarder between Somalia and Kenya, North Eastern counties share a long and a porous boarder with Somalia, There were many cases of foreigners flocking in the country from several routes in Northern counties , Garissa county also holds the biggest refugee camps in the country which makes it easier for foreigners to enter the country illegally.

Just before the closure of the Garisaa passport centre , a governments survey showed that Garisaa passport centre was leading interms of corruption , it was reported that foreigners from either Somalia or Ethiopia were paying huge amount of money to get passports without due process, a deal which is normally facilitated by the foreigners relatives in Kenya.

The question that begs is, Will Garisaa passport centre be re- opened? For how long shall Muslims suffer in getting this crucial document, can the government come up with measures to curb foreigners from getting the documents if the centre is re- opened anytime soon.