The government of President Mwai Kibaki has given in to International pressure and issued a Kenyan Passport to Mrs Anna Okoth who has been waiting for the document for the last six months.
In an email addressed to Mrs Okoth, Mary Musasia, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the Department of Immigration, apologized to Mrs Okoth for the long delay. She also acknowledged receipt of the Petition that has been circulating in the Internet and which was written by Mrs Okoth as part of her struggle for a Kenyan Passport.
“This is to acknowledge your email (Petition) and to let you know that your Passport left Nairobi yesterday for Sweden. Please, check with our Immigration attaché Ms Wako tomorrow or wait for her to contact you”, wrote Mrs Musasia. “Kindly accept our most sincere apologies for the delay”, she added.
Mrs Okoth was contacted today after 17.12 hrs (Swedish time) by Mr. George Kinyua, the First secretary at the Kenyan Embassy, who said that she can collect her Passport from the Mission on Monday next week.
Speaking to KSB, Mrs Okoth said that she was relieved and happy that the government had responded to her struggle and issued the Passport.
She regretted that she had to struggle for the document before it could be issued and hoped that other Kenyans will not have to go through the same process in the future.
Earlier in the day, an Immigration Officer in Nairobi who spoke to KSB in a follow-up phone call said that the Anna Passport issue had precipitated a crisis at the Department, not because of the delay but because of the intensive anti-Kibaki propaganda it was generating both inside and outside Kenya, propaganda that, he said, had found its way in sections of the Kenyan media.
Mrs Okoth thanked everyone who supported her during her struggle including everybody who signed her Petition. She also thanked KSB for the leading role the blog site has played since the struggle for her Passport began a few days ago. Further information and analysis on the issue will be published at KSB later.
Okoth Osewe
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