The Minister of Home Affairs Hon Kazembe Kazembe has promised that the government will have cleared the current passport backlog in three months time i.e. around March. The passport backlog currently stands at over 350 000 by the government’s own admision.

On the issue of passport backlogs, the Government has put in place mechanisms that will ensure that the backlog is cleared within the next three months. Give the department three months and I can assure you that by the end of March the backlog will be cleared.

Minister of Home Affairs Kazembe Kazembe

The fee hike is working?

As part of the government’s populist moves, for a long time, they refused to adjust the passport application fees which stood at a ridiculous $53 ZWL ($3.50 US) even when the country was grappling with foreign currency shortages. Most material used in the making of passports from the paper to the ink is imported.

Naturally, this resulted in the backlog as the government struggled to deal with the massive demand for these hopelessly underpriced passports. It was only recently when the government saw reason and effected a passport fee hike. And if the Minister’s reports are to be believed then the fee hike seems to be working.