The Directorate of Criminal Investigation has issued a statement pledging to clear the current backlog on the issuance of police clearance certificates that has applications going as far as April 2023. The backlog was due to the breakdown of APFIS system which has was resolved in the month of September, 2023.

The statement issued by the DCI Director Amin Mohammed explained request for clearance certificates are handled on a first-come, first-serve basis, with special consideration given to needy instances such as receiving medical treatment overseas, scholarships, and having flights already booked.

“The breakdown issue was resolved in September 2023, leaving a backlog of over 600 000 police clearance applications against daily applications ranging between 13 000 and 15, 000,” read the statement.

According to the statement issued yesterday, Principal Criminal Registrar has taken pragmatic steps to clear the backlog which includes incorporating both manual and automated processing of the applications.

“The Forensic Fingerprint Identification Bureau (FFIB) officers are working round the clock, including on Saturday and Sunday, to increase their throughput,” the statement added.

“To ensure such needy cases and all delayed cases are promptly addressed, our officers at the DCI headquarters and Huduma Centers (DCI Desks) countrywide are sorting out and separately packaging such requests before submitting them for urgent processing,” the agency stated.

As a result, the agency has reduced the pile from 635,000 to about 390,778 applications as at 10th November.

DCI has made a commitment to clear the remaining backlog by February 2024.