KENYA
Kenya’s Public Servants have been ordered to acquire new e-passports within six months or they will not be allowed to travel outside the country.
Head of the Public Service, Joseph Kinyua said the old machine-readable passports would be phased out completely by 31 August 2019.
“To foster migration to the e-passport well ahead of that deadline, all Public Service travel clearances, whether official or personal, will only be made by e-passports after 28 February 2019,” Mr Kinyua said.
He said the new passports would bear the words “East African Community” as well as “Republic of Kenya” in line with the drive for regional integration.
In a separate development, the Kenyan Parliament has agreed that PS staff working in the remote hill county of Tharaka-Nithi should have their hardship allowance restored.
The Union of Kenya Civil Servants had accused the Government of discrimination in withdrawing the allowance, while keeping it in place for teachers.
The monthly allowance is worth between KES2,800 and KES60,000 (A$39.25 to A$841) depending on seniority and the type of work performed.
The classification of hardship areas is based on factors such as food and water accessibility, climatic conditions, availability of basic social services, transport and communication services as well as the poverty index.
Nairobi, 4 October 2018
