He wrote;
UPND GOVERNMENT IS SLEEPING WHILE THE CONFUSION AT THE PASSPORT OFFICE CONTINUES AND THE ISSUANCE OF PASSPORTS KEEPS STALLING.
It is sad to learn that the Ministry of Home Affairs under the stewardship of Hon Jack Mwiimbu continues to sell stories to Zambian citizens who apply for passports.
Refusing to issue passports is not only detrimental to the aspirations of citizens, it is also a sign of lack of seriousness on the part of government.
How is it that in 2024, the passport office constantly has no stationery to print passports? Is the UPND government going to blame the former ruling party PF for this failure too?
Meanwhile, citizens are missing out on many business opportunities, social gatherings, vacations and other undertakings outside Zambia that can potentially improve their lives.
Citizens must be allowed to go out in search of greener pastures, but they can’t travel if their passports are not issued or renewed by the government.
Expediting the issuance and renewal of passports is actually one way of taking the load of providing decent employment to Zambians off the shoulders of government.
The opposite is a recipe for corruption in form of bribery owing to the desperation of citizens who are in dire need of the travel document.
Come on! Just like a birth certificate and national registration card (NRC), a passport is a birthright for every Zambian citizen. You cannot continue to tell applicants to check back later even after the normal waiting period has elapsed. Some individuals have been made to wait for 4 months, or even 6 months.
We are aware of many citizens who were only issued with passports after they threw a tantrum at the passports office.
Why should it take someone causing a scene for you to issue a passport? What does that say about the integrity of the institution if the booklets which are often said to be unavailable suddenly become available after someone makes noise?
It is actually shameful and unacceptable that in Zambia, one needs ‘connections’ to be able to acquire a mere passport or NRC which we are already entitled to anyway.
Is this how underdeveloped we want to continue to be? Are we so poor that our government cannot even afford stationery? We urge the Minister of Home Affairs Mr Jack Mwiimbu to pull up his socks and seriously look into this matter.
May his ministry find a permanent solution soonest especially because UPND promised to FIX IT!
