Govt ill equipped to clear passport backlog

Government says they are not fully capacitated to clear passport backlog dating back to March 2019.

The backlog is being initiated by the need of foreign currency and obsolete equipment not producing enough passports a day.

This was revealed by the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe during Parliamentary sessions on the oral evidence on policy decisions in dealing with the backlog in the provision of primary identity documents.

“My ministry is currently experiencing a backlog in the processing of passports , currently the backlog is at 255 000 dating back to March 2019 the backlog has been accumulated due to shortage of consumables which require foreign currency”

“We have various stages which affect passport production there is a stage that of personalization , there Our installed capacity at the moment can only do 3000 passports a day , and the next stage with the current equipment that we have can only do 2000 , “ said Kazembe.

Government recently increased passport fees to US$60, and $200 for a three-day passport issuance, pegged at the average US$:ZW$ exchange rate.

An emergency 24-hour passport remains pegged at a cost of US$318. This will ensure appropriate cost-factored passport revenue. E-passport fees are pegged at US$80.

The increase was meant to speed up production and clear backlog.

The Home Affairs Minister assured citizens that other measures have been put in place to speed up production.

“To address these measures the ministry has put in place a double working shift with effect from the 26Th of April 2021, “ he said.

As the passport situation has deteriorated, many Zimbabweans have been forced to pay bribes and stand in long ques for hours to get their passports.