It is every Zambian citizens right to have a passport.It is an important document to every one of us to enable us travel outside the country, be it for leisure or business.With a minimum of K310 required by the home office to process this very important document, we understand as citizens, but let see to it that a portion of these funds are used for the maintenance of the very offices that we use for the application and collection of these documents.
How does one pay that much and the very office that one has to wait to be interviewed for a minimum 3 hours has no toilet? The offices have a 1950’s look, are poorly ventilated with tons of files that can be sorted and stored off site or documented electronically to create space and create a conducive environment for our hard working brothers and sisters.The offices have no backup generator as we are all aware of persistent power cuts.
Why should we wait for donor funding or experts from abroad to just fix simple systems to create better and efficient services for our people. Why do we have only two collection windows functioning.Why should we have those officers close for lunch when we can have some start at 7:30 and knockoff at 15:30, take early lunch and then let the others do a 9 to 5 shift. Why should the department not send an SMS to advise the passport applicants if the document is ready so as to avoid citizens not to make unnecessary trips to and from the offices just to check on the status of their applications.
I know most of these highlighted issues will be rebuffed as “this is Zambia the real Africa” where suffering is acceptable.Yet we do have well educated individuals such as a Dr Chileshe Mulenga and others at world renown institutions managing these same institutions yet simple solutions are far-fetched. Is the Home affairs budget for police operations only?
Concerned citizen
Joe Phiri
I am getting my British passport soon and will throw away the Zambian.
I am engaged to a British white male from Scotland.
Thanks
BB2014,2016
Engaged all this time????
@Mushota…engaged for 10 years now, your British white male from Scotland just wants to sleep with you, he wont marry you. Dont throw away your Zambian passport, it the only one you will ever have.
One of the points raised in this article is one I have been lamenting on this blog. Why must we wait for donors to tell us and give us money to improve our own systems? Almost every improvement in governance or service delivery is driven and funded by donors.
Our leaders are too busy using our money to fund their luxury lifestyles. Corruption and greed are in the moral fibre of our nation.
And sadly, as can be seen from a lot of the bloggers here, as long as they benefit from the corruption or they get a job in foreign service, they don’t care if others are dying needlessly in hospitals due to lack of medicines which are stolen at medical stores. They don’t care if money that could build more schools and improve livelihoods is squandered on corrupt procurements like 42 wheelborrows…
continued…
Anyway, like the wise man Solomon write 3000yrs ago “naked a man comes from his mother’s womb and naked he departs. he takes nothing with him from all his labour”.
So go on and amass you corrupt riches. You won’t carry them to the grave. But be sure that your ins and corruption will follow you. You may escape justice in this life. But you won’t escape it in the next. That is guaranteed.
He must have worn out the Mushota p#+#sy by now, 10 years its finished. Thats why he can’t marry it.
How does he do you anal?
Please lets not talk about refurbishing now… It will cost us another billion dollars!
I totally understand your frustration. Something needs done immediately, simple solutions are the ones to make our country great.
Look at most developed countries, they have effective and efficient systems in place, they have such because they understand proper time management.
We should learn to quicken our processes, we are not here to live forever. We cannot develop ourselves and the country, if we shall be spending the whole day queuing for services.
Like the article concludes, 100% of the ministry’s budget is for Zabwino Palibe and corrupt procurement. How can they justify the purchase of the useless and unnecessary anti riot stupidness?
Are we getting new passports again?
No one cares @mushota
The corruption in this place is on another level, the guys that work in this place go to work for corruption first and work second, the thing is no one really cares and the fact that we have a minister from Katondo street does not help the sorry situation that most Zambian`s encounter when getting a new passport. How far are you with dual citizenship so that we can at least lessen the number of people that have to go collect documents in this hell hole
Ala bwafya pa Zed…twikala kwati fipuba. It is shameful that our leaders have no sense of shame…
Mr Phiri we share your frustration and shame.
Not everyone should be entitled to a passport. Thieves and those who plunder Zambia through corruption should be denied this privilege for they are targets for our jails. Even if they corruptly obtain one, will follow them like rats in their holes. Zambians deserve to claw back their resources and justice will come to pass. There are examples from the past leaders who stole from poor Zambians and are long forgotten. Others who run away are back – Chungu is a living example whose children do not want to be associated with that name but we know them they have multiple passports. In a free and fair Zambia Chungu and others would be in jail for misuse of Zambian passport privilege. Not all Zambians deserve a passport.
I strongly share your frustrations, it’s very very embarrassing, it was hard for me to understand the last time I stepped into those offices. Even changing a light bulb is a problem, sure? No AC, no toilet, where on..? No body cares, one would think there is no management all.
The frustration highlighted are real, can the concerned authorities address these challenges please.
How i wish the opposition can be highlighting these real challenges to make govt work instead or focusing on imaginaly and speculations.
@Zambian FK well said, these are the issues I always highlight we have an opposition that is more dull than an ostrich that puts its head in the ground. They fail to raise issues affecting Zambians but will pick on some non relevant crap like the eligibility clause why should that be an issue? If you are popular whether someone is ruled eligible or not you as an opposition that is raising good points and not wasting time on issues that will go no where will win one day sadly they are are all daft cretins.
Its called corruption, i hope the President can intervene on this one also,otherwise why does he have ministers who cant do nothing?
We live in Zambia day by day some corrupt politician all they think of is how much money there are making nothing less. You see at the passport office is were you will find true corruption.
I wonder why it takes the president to intervene all the time. Goes to show that the head of departments cant think for themselves.
If only we hard access to funds, a payment platform ‘VERIPAY’ that I have been developing for the last 2 years would have been on the market.
‘had’
Very well said, sad some things never change the same applies with all the other processing of documentation be it title deeds, driver licenses etc its a sad state of affairs we live in I pray to God that the people who are responsible for such chaos dont go to heaven because they will disturb the peace and tranquility there with their laziness and lack of consideration.
We must by fire and thunder force the powers that be to urgently make the application and collection of passports very easy. This is an e-era we are in! Ukulachita efintu kwati kumushi….
The Passport Office is overlooked because many people who seek passports are seeking life elsewhere in countries that practise real democracy unlike having people who were selling in Katondo Street running institutions. Blaming opposition won’t cure the ills at Passport Office. They don’t control the funds neither control the budget!
I completely agree with Mr Phiri. I don’t know why we fail to come up with simple solutions to our problems in Zambia. The pass office is a money maker, yet it has no toilet for the public. One time I asked to use the staff toilet and I wasnt impressed either. And the fun thing is I always have to be careful not to miss the passports office when am going there because there is no proper signage to the office.
Joe Phiri you are now known at the passport office. You will never get your passport on time now.