Kenya's Department of Immigration Fails to Account for Sh1.4 Billion Passports, Visa Stickers

Auditor-General Edward Ouko says that the Department of Immigration has failed to account for Sh1.4 billion that may have been lost between 2013 and 2015.

In a report, Ouko says that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received visa stickers valued at Sh2.7 billion from the Department of Immigration during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 financial years.

The Ministry then issued 39,900 blank passports worth Sh202 million to five consulate missions and 13,872 printed passports valued at Sh65 million to foreign missions and embassies.

Ouko explains that total revenue collected excluding certificate of good conduct, ID cards and others of Sh2.9 billion differs with the Sh1.5 recorded in the financial statements. Ouko says the Immigration Department to date has failed to account for the loss of Sh1.4 billion.

Ouko also notes that the Immigration Department issued blank passports worth Sh133 million to Kenyan embassies in Washington DC, London, Berlin, and Pretoria but they were not captured in the Counter Receipt Book Registers.

“The existence of these passports could not be confirmed as a result of failure by the missions to produce them for physical audit verification,” read part of the report.

“In view of the foregoing, together with explanation submitted by State Department of Immigration that visa stickers and passports are not included in Public Finance Regulations as accountable documents, it is not possible to confirm that their use is lawful and effective as required in Article 229 (6) of the Constitution.”