The immigration office in Nakuru is on the spot after a section of Nakuru residents of Somali origin raised complaints over what they termed as discrimination in the issuance of passports.
Speaking outside Nakuru’s Jamia Mosque after noon prayers, the residents led by Abdulaye Adan said the immigration office in Nakuru was meant to ease service delivery to the residents without discrimination but that is not the case.
He says he visited the office seeking for a passport service but was shocked to be told that he has to travel to Nairobi.
According to him, this has inconvenienced Muslims who are in preparation for the special prayers in the holy city of Mecca during this month of Ramadhan.
Abdulaye is now calling on the national government to ensure that the matter is addressed.
“We need the government to speed up and come to our aid because travelling to Nairobi to seek the services is very expensive,” said Abdulaye.
His Sentiments were echoed by Nakuru County Muslim Association Chair Ahmed Nashar who called on the government to ensure the immigration office in Nakuru is serving the purpose it was meant for in Nakuru.
He called on the vetting committee to ensure the members of border communities’ origin are vetted and served with passports without discrimination.
“Registration of passports in Nakuru should not be discriminative. We want the vetting committee to intervene in the few cases where members of the border communities have been harassed by the office in Nakuru” he said.
Sheikh Hamisi Nasoro on his part called for equality in service delivery to the people of Nakuru County.
He said it was wrong for the immigration office in Nakuru to deny a section of residents some services due to discrimination. The Sheikh also called on locals to maintain peace.
“We appeal for peaceful co-existence without any discrimination,” he said.
When reached for comment, the Immigration office in Nakuru did not comment on the matter and instead, directed the press to it's Nairobi directorate.
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