Chronicle Editor
THE launch of the electronic passport at the registry offices at Chiwashira Building in Harare yesterday, marks a new beginning in the issuance of identity documents in Zimbabwe.
The launch of the electronic passport by President Mnangagwa coincided with the opening of a passport enrolment centre at Chiwashira Building.
The e-passport project is being implemented by the Government in partnership with Garsu Pasaulis on a build-own-operate and transfer arrangement.
President Mnangagwa said the e-passport will improve service delivery in line with Government’s development agenda.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which is the specialised United Nations agency on aviation security and standards for international travel, prescribes member states to adopt measures that safeguard the integrity and security of travel and identity documents.
“The minister hereby notifies that henceforth the Government will cease the issuance of the current passport and in place thereof will be issuing electronically readable passports (e-passports) whose charges are specified in the schedule,” read Statutory Instrument 273 of 2020 published by Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe in a Government Gazette.
Although traditional passports remain in use, upon expiry, only an e-passport will be issued.
Most importantly for Zimbabweans, the e-passport is expected to end long backlogs and queues.
Zimbabweans are tired of having to struggle for identity documents.
These are not a luxury, but a human right.
The move to an e-passport is in line with President Mnangagwa’s promise to transform Zimbabwe into an upper-middle income economy by 2030.
The shortage in materials used in the printing of passports, the long queues and backlog, gave rise to corruption at registry offices countrywide.
Zimbabweans were made to feel like someone was doing them a favour whenever they get a birth certificate or passport, yet registry officials are actually doing their work.
Fortunately, the Second Republic is building a Zimbabwe for all Zimbabweans, and not for some. A Zimbabwe we all want.
Struggling for identity documents makes us look like a banana republic. It makes us a laughing stock.
We, therefore, hail the move by Government under the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa for this major milestone in the issuance of passports.
We will also be quick to urge that more technologies are needed in the documentation of Zimbabweans, including DNA fingerprinting or profiling.
Identifying individuals on the basis of their unique genetic makeup at birth will come in handy in case of tragic accidents and crime.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police Forensic Laboratory and National University of Science and Technology’s (Nust) Applied Genetics Testing Centre could collaborate with the Register-General’s Office in creating a robust national identity system.
Homegrown solutions are also needed for local problems. We cannot always turn to the West for new technologies.
Our local institutions, national universities — through their innovation hubs — must be up to the challenge of improving the lives of Zimbabweans.
The launch of the e-passport must be used as a launchpad for greater homegrown innovations that can even be exported.
Online Reporter