Tanzanian Members of Parliament have questioned the unequal access to diplomatic passports by senior government officials, including constitutional office holders. The National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security, chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo, was moved by concerns raised in a petition by the Commission on Administrative Justice regarding alleged discrimination in the regulations governing the issuance of diplomatic passports.
Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang faced intense questioning from the committee over a glaring omission in the list of eligible beneficiaries for diplomatic passports. The committee questioned why the State Department included the Clerk of the National Assembly on the list but left out the Clerk of the Senate, who performs a comparable parliamentary function.
The committee also questioned the exclusion of some constitutional commissions and independent offices, with Teso North MP Oku Kanuya reminding the PS that State institutions placed in the same constitutional category should be treated equally. Kanuya emphasized that access to diplomatic passports should be all-inclusive, as provided for in the constitution.
Dr Kipsang admitted that the unfair exclusion "could have been an oversight" and undertook to review the regulations governing the issuance of diplomatic passports to address the glaring omissions and ensure fairness in the distribution of the document. A diplomatic passport is a specialized, tightly regulated travel document issued to diplomats, high-ranking state officials, and designated public servants who represent the country on official business abroad.
The primary purpose of a diplomatic passport is to signify to foreign governments that the holder is traveling in an official, state-sanctioned capacity. It serves several key functional purposes, including international identification, visa facilitation, consular protection, and expedited border processing.
Under the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act and its 2012 regulations, diplomatic passports are issued to specified categories of State and public officials. However, Dr Kipsang noted that the current framework needed to be reviewed to reflect changes brought about by the 2010 Constitution and the establishment of various constitutional offices.
The committee told the PS that the omission was difficult to justify, noting that the Senate was already provided for under the constitution when the regulations were introduced in 2012. The PS assured the committee that the department was prepared to initiate the necessary review, subject to public participation and the required legislative procedures.
Key points
- MPs question unequal access to diplomatic passports by senior government officials in Tanzania.
- The committee demands equal treatment for constitutional offices in the issuance of diplomatic passports.
- The PS undertakes to review the regulations governing diplomatic passports to address glaring omissions.
