Staff Reporter

The introduction of the electronic passports will immensely benefit citizens and help in clearing the passport backlog as well as ensure the integrity, authenticity and security of travel and identity documents.

Speaking during the launch of the e-passports in Harare yesterday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that the rolling out of this travel document dovetails with the National Development Strategy 1 objective of modernising the economy.

“The rolling out of the e-passport project, therefore, dovetails with the National Development Strategy 1 objective to modernise the economy through the use of ICTs and digital technology. It is also evidence of my Government’s commitment to ensure that every citizen has easy access to vital civil registration and travel documents.

“I’m however alive to the challenges that our people have been experiencing in trying to acquire travel and other official documents. This has resulted in the accumulation of backlog,” said the President.

President Mnangagwa added that once the e-passport project is fully implemented, the country will witness increased production of not just e-passports, but also national identity cards, birth certificates, entry visas as well as residence permits. He further said that the era of long queues and corrupt tendencies in the issuance of the registration documents was coming to an end.

The President said that he was aware of the challenges facing citizens in acquiring civil registration documents and said that a nationwide mobile registration exercise will be rolled out next year to issue vital registration documents to citizens.

“In the midst of these achievements, my Government is cognisant of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the civil registration process. This has not only been the case with Zimbabwe, but the world at large.

“In light of this, a massive national mobile registration exercise will be rolled out commencing the second quarter of 2022 to issue primary documents. This exercise has been timed to coincide with voter registration in readiness for the 2023 harmonised general elections,” said President Mnangagwa.

The launched e-passports will contain an electronic chip that holds the same information that is printed on the passport’s data page. It also contains biometric identifier and has security features meant to deter identity theft.