The government says the current delay in the issuance of passports has been occasioned by a shortage in supply of the 34-page passport booklets which normally go for Ksh.4,550.

According to Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura the shortage has been caused by slow delivery of the booklets by the supplier.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Mwaura assured that a consignment of the booklets is on the way and will land in the country "soon".

"Kenyans have complained of delayed issuance of passports and I wish to confirm that the problem is being addressed. The problem has persisted because of delayed supply of the 34-page passport booklets," said Mwaura.

The government spokesperson explained that the passport documents are usually printed outside the country for security reasons leaving only the applicant’s Bio-data page to be printed locally upon application.

He advised those with urgent passport needs to go for the 50-page document which he says are currently available in plenty and that goes for Ksh.6,050.

"A consignment of the booklets is on the way and will land in the country soon and the problem will be a thing of the past. In the meantime, those with urgent needs for a passport are advised to apply for the 50-page passports which are in plenty," he said.

The Government, Mwaura said, is also aware of the problem of acquiring identity cards by eligible youth.

This he said has been caused by a court order suspending the production of the 3rd generation Identity Cards. 

"An appeal has been made on the case. As we speak 600,000 applications for the cards are pending at the civil registration offices countrywide even as some other 684,000 IDs lie uncollected by the applicants across the country," said Mwaura.

He added: " I affirm that once the appeal is granted the government will embark on massive production of the vital identification documents with the aim of clearing the backlog within the shortest time possible. We appeal to those yet to collect their documents to do so, in order to avoid inconveniences in their official as well as private transactions."