Passport office meets festive season demand

Mukudzei Chingwere,Harare Bureau
THE Civil Registry Department has increased the production of passports, with Harare alone now producing about 1 300 passports per day from under 1 000, in an effort to clear the sudden jump in demand that occurs every year during the festive season.

Zimbabweans based outside the country tend to take advantage of the festive season to renew their travel documents, before returning to their bases.

Presently, a number of measures have been employed, including working on weekends, extending working hours and increasing personnel servicing passport applicants, so as to meet the demand.

In an interview yesterday, Registrar-General Mr Henry Machiri said they expect the number of people wanting travel documents to subside in the next two weeks.

“The situation is that people are still coming. Diasporans are still around, and we are working as we said, those extra hours and we are managing,” said Mr Machiri.

“We cannot say the numbers have really dwindled. As long as they (diasporans) are still around, numbers are still there.

“But we expect that in the next two weeks the numbers will be going down as some collect their passports, but we are managing.”

Mr Machiri said they were taking a lot of applications and people should take advantage of Saturday, a day on which they are also opening to deal with the extra demand for passports.

In line with the decentralisation agenda, the Civil Registry Department is now issuing e-passports at various district offices to decongest Harare, as well as bring services closer to the people as demanded by President Mnangagwa.

Centres issuing e-passports include Beitbridge District Registry, Hwange District Registry, Lupane Provincial Registry, Gweru Provincial Registry, Chitungwiza District Registry, Murewa District Registry, Marondera Provincial Registry, and the Chinhoyi Provincial Registry.