Films Board boss Ezekiel Mutua has said that he will willingly surrender ‘diplomatic’ passport today this afternoon following extensive consultations on the matter according to his official message.
“Following extensive consultations on this matter, and having been informed of a formal request sent to my office by the Director of Immigration Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa while I was away in the US, I wish to announce that I will voluntarily surrender the said diplomatic passport on arrival at JKIA at 3pm this afternoon,” Said Mutua
Mutua noted that he does not to let the issue be a distraction to his work,
“As a law-abiding citizen and senior official in the Government I will fully comply with the request as I do not wish to have this issue become a distraction to my work,” he added.
Mutua denied having contravened any law adding that the passport was legally issued to him thanking the government for entrusting him with the documents for that time.
“I wish to reiterate the fact that the passport was legally issued to me and that I had not contravened any law in respect to its acquisition and usage.
I remain grateful to the Government for entrusting me with this privilege for the time it lasted. I will continue to execute my duties with as much zeal and passion with an ordinary passport.
It must be noted that my earlier statement issued on Sunday while in the US was in the context that I had not received any formal communication on the issue by then save for the reports in the media.
Now that a formal request has been done in line with the law, I will gladly oblige and voluntarily surrender the said document to the Immigration Desk at the JKIA,” Mutua said.
Drama started with the CEO’s Facebook post on acquiring the document without following procedure. Exchanges with his friends on the social media platform pushed Mutua to insult some of them and unfriend others.
The Immigration department ordered Mutua to immediately surrender the passport after the incident but he refused.
The document is to be exchanged with an ordinary one, on grounds that the Kenya Film Classification Board boss is not among those who qualify for diplomatic passports
Mutua said in a statement on Sunday: “The passport is a privilege granted to me by the government in 2012 after I was transferred from the Ministry of Information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
“At no point have I abused or used the said diplomatic passport for personal gain,” he continued, noting the document’s withdrawal must follow procedure.