RG's Office Failing To Produce Passports On Time, Backlog Now At 165 000

The Registrar General (RG) admits to a failure to clear a backlog of passport applications going back to as far as May. The failure has been attributed to the unavailability of foreign currency to import raw materials used in the production of passports. Speaking in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Registrar General Clemence Masango said

We are doing our very best to produce passports and we have a backlog from May which means we have to produce 166 500 passports. This figure excludes the number of new applications we receive daily which are an average of 2 100.

We have a capacity to produce about 3 000 passports daily but given the current challenges, we are failing to keep up. All passport materials, threads, ink and stationery is sourced from outside the country and like any Government department, we have to rely on forex allocations which are highly competitive.

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