Interior CS Kithure Kindiki has announced his ministry's plan to triple the number of Kenyan passport holders.

"The ministry has set a target of tripling the number of Kenyans passport holders from the current 3.5 million to 10 million within the next 5 years,” he said.

Speaking at Harambe House on Monday, the CS announced that the ministry had received 54,000 34-page booklets of printing passports.

A further 200,000 booklets are expected later this month and the same  figure will apply monthly for the next six months

Kindiki further revealed that the broken passport printer, which had become a headache for Kenyans looking to acquire e-passports, has been repaired.

"The broken passport printer is now repaired and we are in a process of acquiring a better and more efficient printer," he said.

In addition, the Interior boss called on all eligible applicants to apply for passports.

CS Kindiki further said the processing of passports has been expedited to conform to international standards.

On the subject of the approval of citizenship applications, the CS said last week he approved 1,698 applications between the years 2018 to 2022.

"Of these, 808 made to regain Kenyan citizenship mainly by the Kenya diaspora who had previously opted to renounce in order to enjoy citizenship of their host countries," he said.

Kindiki explained that before the statute of the 2010 Constitution, Kenya did not allow dual citizenship.

Approved applications for children and spouses of Kenyan citizens were 815 while 75 applications were made by lawful residents.