adminFreeman Razemba Senior Reporter
The passport office in Harare will now open on Saturdays to help those applying for the newly-introduced e-passport and in response to the high demand for the document, while the Bulawayo office can now issue e-passports with the opening yesterday of its bio-enrolment centre.
The extension of working hours in Harare is aimed at reducing the passports backlog while also continuing to enhance service delivery.
The Civil Registry Department said the Harare passport office will be open from 8am to 3pm on Saturdays, but the only business on that day is for e-passports. Other national documents would continue to be issued Monday to Friday during normal working hours
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe yesterday opened the Bulawayo e-Passport Bio-enrolment Centre for the issuance of passports.
The launch and implementation of the e-passport project in Bulawayo resonates with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), which emphasises the modernisation of the economy through ICTs and digital technology.
As the Civil Registry Department continues to devise strategies to enhance service delivery, it anticipates that the extended operating hours will greatly facilitate efficient e-passport services in response to the high demand for the document.
Bulawayo becomes the second city to have the facility, which will be cascaded to other provincial and district centres and Zimbabwean embassies abroad, starting with South Africa.
Minister Kazembe said at the official opening that the process of setting up infrastructure for the issuance of e-passports has now been taken to Hwange and Lupane, both in Matabeleland North province.
“This shall be followed by a similar exercise to the remaining seven provincial offices, which should be up and running by June 30.
“As you may all know, Zimbabwe is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which requires that member states take necessary measures to ensure the integrity, authenticity and security of travel and identity documents.
“The introduction of the new generation e-passport is therefore fully compliant with ICAO standards and has enhanced security features to abate fraudulent activities,” said Minister Kazembe.
Some of the key features include electronic cover with a chip, personal data of the holder, each page of the passport chronicles a story about Zimbabwe’s rich cultural heritage and major tourist attractions, and a security thread fully embedded in the inner booklet pages.
The enhanced security features will play a major role in combating cross-border organised crime and illegal migration, thereby bringing integrity to Zimbabwe’s migration system.
Minister Kazembe said initially, e-passport applications will be processed at provincial and a few district centres, before being decentralised to all districts in line with the dictates of devolution, to ensure no place and person is left behind.
Decentralising passport services to the district level started with the establishment of the Chitungwiza Passport Office, which is now operational.
“The setting up of infrastructure to establish the e-passport system in Chitungwiza is at an advanced stage of completion.
“The decentralisation of e-passport services to district level remains a priority for my ministry. I am aware of the challenges our citizens are experiencing in trying to acquire travel documents.
“I must assure you however, that with the decentralisation of the e-passport enrolment centres, the long queues that have been witnessed at passport offices will soon be a thing of the past,” said Minister Kazembe.
His ministry was also focused on contributing optimally towards the ease of doing business through the deployment of online platforms which are critical towards the realisation of enhanced service delivery.
In this regard, the ministry is working on plans to establish an online passport application system for the convenience of the general public.
“While positive gains have been realised in the seamless transition to the e-passport, my ministry is deeply concerned about criminal elements purporting to be employees or agents of the Civil Registry Department who are defrauding citizens of their hard-earned cash, promising facilitation to acquire e-passports and in other cases, identity documents.
“I wish to unequivocally state that these bogus individuals do not, in any way, represent the ministry and we disassociate ourselves from them. Members of the public are urged to approach the Civil Registry directly when seeking access to civil registration and to desist from engaging intermediaries.
“Let me, however, assure you that law enforcement agents will leave no stone unturned in bringing these criminal elements to book.”
The Civil Registry Department will be embarking on a nationwide mobile registration exercise from April 1 to September 30, targeting mainly the issuance of birth and death certificates and national identity cards.
In addition to mobile teams, all static registration offices will remain operational during this period and citizens were urged to take advantage of this opportunity to be fully registered.
Online Reporter