Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki has looked back on his two-year term as Interior Cabinet Secretary, highlighting his accomplishments in addressing banditry in terror-prone areas and dismantling passport application cartels at Harambee House.
Addressing Harambee Annex in Nairobi on Thursday, Kindiki outlined key successes in the security ministry, noting that under his leadership, bandits who had terrorized residents for decades were “overpowered and scattered.”
Tackling Banditry in North Eastern and Lamu
Kindiki described the widespread unrest he encountered across parts of North Eastern Kenya, Lamu, and the Northern Rift Valley when he took office in 2022, saying the situation has since been significantly improved. He said,
“As I relinquish the leadership of the Interior Ministry, I am proud to report that save for a few inevitable losses, Lamu and North Eastern Kenya are much safer and calmer today than the situation was during the last half of 2022.”
DP Kithure Kindiki says insecurity in parts of Lamu, North-Eastern and Rift Valley contained and passport backlog reduced during his two-year tenure as Interior CS. pic.twitter.com/qSNde9aWmN
— The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) November 7, 2024
Kindiki pointed out that his decision to designate these areas as “disturbed” and “dangerous” in 2023 and deploy the military was a strategy that successfully drove bandits out of these regions. He explained,
“Heavily armed bandits were flushed from these areas in a process that lasted several months. Their outdated gimmicks of taunting security forces and sometimes staging daylight raids were eventually crushed through intelligence-led operations, superior firepower and efficient operational and tactical outputs that resulted in the neutralization of dangerous bandit commanders and their spiritual influencers.”
The Deputy President recalled a time when bandits were killing innocent civilians, raiding villages and vandalizing schools, saying that his tenure was able to restore stability to the affected areas where closed institutions were also reopened.
Kindiki lauded the support of President William Ruto and his government in the peace restoration mission, noting that Ruto’s role helped provide resources to the motivated security agencies in the fight against bandits and gangs. The DP stated,
“19 months after President Ruto ordered the most consequential security operation against banditry ever to take place in Northern Kenya, the infrastructure that had sustained banditry for over four decades has been suppressed and dismantled.”
Improving Passport Processing
On improvements to passport processing, Kindiki shared that his administration had reduced the backlog of 724,000 passport applications and accelerated production timelines from 12 months in 2022 to just seven days. He explained,
“The passport production and delivery waiting period has been reduced from more than 12 months in 2022 to 7 days at present. The backlog of 724,000 passports has been cleared and the challenge now is to expedite the delivery process to clear the 85,000 uncollected passports that are ready.”
DP Kithure Kindiki: As I leave the reins of the Ministry, I am proud to report that the corruption cartels of staff and members of the public that used to harass passport applicants have been dismantled and 17 ringleaders, including immigration officers are facing ongoing… pic.twitter.com/5bUpbXsP6L
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) November 7, 2024
Kindiki further noted that operations at the immigration department are now more efficient following the eradication of corruption and dismantling of cartels. He said,
“As I leave the reins of the Ministry, I am proud to report that the corruption cartels of staff and members of the public that used to harass passport applicants have been dismantled and 17 ringleaders, including immigration officers, are facing ongoing criminal prosecution.”
The Deputy President expressed confidence that the milestone of reducing the waiting period from the current 7 days to 3 days by the close of this year remains achievable.
