Four suspected passport brokers have been arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation- Immigration at Nyayo House.
The arrest appears to be a crackdown on corrupt officials at Kenya's immigration department.
According to Citizen Digital, those arrested include Josphat Khamandi Manyonyi, Howard Tsimbagi alias Button, Ahmed Ibrahim Sheikh, and Hassan Mohamed Hosman, who are suspected of taking advantage of members of the public.
Investigations into the murky goings-on at Nyayo House have exposed how immigration employees have been asking for bribes for ages, which has caused controversy and damaged Nyayo House's reputation.
Following their detention at the Central Police station and arrests on Friday, August 25, the suspects will be charged with conspiracy to mislead the public and preparing to conduct a criminal.
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The arrests come after a crackdown declared by Kithure Kindiki, cabinet secretary for the interior ministry, who described the Nyayo residence as a "crime scene" and pledged to clear it up permanently when he appeared before the National Assembly.
"I will clean up Nyayo house once & for all," CS Kithure told the committee, "We will seal off Nyayo house & name it a scene of crime. How do Kenyans cue from 6AM? It won’t be business as usual. We must clean up Nyayo house,"he said.
According to the CS, corruption at Nyayo House is to blame for some of Kenya's ongoing issues, including terrorism and insecurity.
According to the CS, there are currently 58,000 passports backlogged, which is a problem for most Kenyans.
The Department of Immigration and Citizen Services processes about 5,000 passports every day.
He said there are plans to issue passports in seven days and that in the future, the issuance time will be shortened to three days and 24 hours in the event of an emergency.
