The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has cancelled 701 diplomatic and service passports following a nationwide recall of official travel documents.
The move comes after multiple public announcements urging former officials and other holders of these passports to return them, which many failed to do.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Ministry confirmed that 341 diplomatic passports and 360 service passports were not returned as instructed and have now been placed on a stop-list. As a result, they are no longer valid for international travel.
The affected passport holders include former ministers and their spouses, former Members of Parliament, former Council of State members and their spouses, retired justices of the superior and lower courts, former regional ministers, former Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), former board members, former non-career ambassadors and their dependents. Others include officials involved in the National Cathedral Project, as well as some religious and traditional leaders, businesspersons and former government functionaries no longer in service.
The Ministry stressed that all cancelled passports must be confiscated if found in use and warned of strict enforcement at all entry and exit points. This directive is in accordance with the Passports and Travel Certificates Act, 1967 (NLCD 155), particularly sections 6 and 7, which regulate the issuance and use of official passports.
The Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that official travel documents are used responsibly and only by those lawfully entitled to them.
