Kenya is introducing a green service passport for public servants and state officers who travel abroad on official assignments. It is meant for officers who do not qualify for diplomatic passports. Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services Belio Kipsang announced the plan on Thursday. He was appearing before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security.
Kipsang told MPs that the passport has already been printed. He said it will be rolled out once the regulations are finalised. The document will sit alongside Kenya's ordinary and diplomatic passports. Until now, service passports went mainly to the disciplined services, such as police officers and military personnel on official duty overseas. Pulse Live Kenya reported that the expanded framework would cover thousands of public servants who fall below the legal threshold for diplomatic passports.
The announcement came as MPs examined a petition from the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ). The petition raised concerns about unequal treatment of officials serving in constitutional offices. Lawmakers said some constitutional office holders and independent commissions had been left off the diplomatic passport eligibility list.
Kipsang said the government is willing to review the rules. They were introduced in 2012 under the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act. He said the review would bring them in line with changes made by the 2010 Constitution.
Under the current rules, diplomatic passports are reserved for designated senior state officials, Kenyans.co.ke reported. These include the President, Deputy President, Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, governors, senior judicial officers and security chiefs. Some of their spouses and dependants also qualify. Retired officials, including former Deputy Presidents and their spouses, are eligible under separate legislation. That law recognises their role in mediation, peace missions and election observation.
The PS said Regulation 13 allows the Interior Cabinet Secretary to approve diplomatic passports for people outside the listed categories when an official assignment requires it. He said diplomatic passports are strictly for official duties and diplomatic functions. "The government must protect the document's integrity and international recognition," Kipsang said, according to Pulse Live Kenya.
The service passport is part of a wider overhaul of passport administration. Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen has announced plans to upgrade the Nyeri and Malindi immigration offices. They would offer full passport registration, processing and biometric capture. Pulse Live Kenya reported that the upgrades aim to ease congestion at major centres such as Nyayo House in Nairobi.