Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua reveals government officers without the e-passport would not be allowed to leave the country

Gov't officers banned from traveling out of the country

Mark Mwithaga

April 26, 2019 6:41 PM

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Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua during a past media briefing

Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua revealed that government officers would not be allowed to travel outside the country without the e-passport.

Through an order issued by Kinyua, the officers with old passports might not travel unless they acquire the new document.

Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua ece-auto-gen

He further insisted that some of the public servants were still applying for a visa using the machine-readable passports which is against the rule that was set.

“Please be advised that while passport requirements for entry and exit vary from country to country, the general rule is that a passport should have at least six (6) months validity when travelling internationally.

“Therefore, most countries will not issue a visa or permit a traveller to enter their country unless the passport is set to expire at least six months after the final date of travel,” stated Kinyua.

The Public service boss further noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not help the officers in getting the visas for the old travel document.

Kenya rolls out e-passports

In 2017, Kenya became the second country in East Africa to issue the e-passports after Burundi paved the way for the change.