Foreign currency passport fees will continue to be charged because the government says the investor must recoup the money spent setting up the e-passport system
Senator Melewe Foti has asked President Mnangagwa’s son, David, who is deputy finance minister, to explain why the passport fee cannot be charged in local currency.
“I think the social contract and the mechanisms around it are under discussion. It’s a sensitive area that we don’t want to rush into or go into quickly without talking to all the stakeholders. And similar to some of the public-private partnership arrangements that are out there, I think the government views the sanctity of the contract as sacrosanct. So You will find that there are cases where you spend days in the passport office.
“An investor came in, and part of those arrangements included foreign exchange pricing. These are sealed documents and need to be reviewed by the relevant ministries. The relevant authorities and relevant stakeholders are looking at how to bring all these areas within the scope of ZiG.”
Lithuanian company Garsu Pasaulis is the investor.
