Thursday, March 26, 2015

ecitizen does not exist

http://www.immigration.go.ke/

If you click on the link above, you'll notice, on the right hand side, an announcement that says:




Which is perfect for the lazy, like myself, if only it worked. This reminds me of that time when Government digitized PIN registration. I must've tried to get registered for 3 weeks before I'd had enough and walked to Times Tower, made a lot of noise, demanded to see the Supervisor and then got registered as I stood there. It took all of 15 minutes. I was 22 at the time.

Now, no one is that lucky twice. Usually by the second time of getting something done that others have to wait weeks or months to get done, one has usually compromised their morals, bribed a few times, called in a few favours and likely put themselves in that tight spot between the door and wall.

So no, I'm not planning on going to wherever passports are applied for, claim in a loud voice that their website is "a sham!" and expect to walk out of there with 'my balls' unsqueezed. I've heard enough to not want to learn from my own mistakes, if you catch my drift.

Even then, I've got to say that it's a welcome relief. Turns out I'll finally get another 'original' copy of my birth certificate - it will only have taken 5 - days, if I do get it when they said I would get it.

And since I'm not in that much of a hurry, I can actually just wait for April 15 and apply for my passport online. Again, I'm a late bloomer  where travel outside of the country is concerned but it seems like I'm going to get to do a lot of things in my old age than I ever did when I was younger. 

Maybe I'm just one of those people who come into their own when everyone else has written them off, but boy! Am I glad I'm not going to have to stand in line and get stared down or undressed (with the eyes) by a gun-toting AP or whatever... those guys (I really want to call them goons but...) call themselves.

But if you are a criminal who does not intend to be flagged every time you travel, perhaps the digital age is something you wish did not exist. Tough!

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