The Ministry of Home Affairs has announced that the cost of a standard passport will be reduced from $140 to $50, with immediate effect.
The reduction was announced at a joint press conference in Harare on Wednesday by the co-Home Affairs Ministers Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone. For a long time there have been serious complaints from the public about the fact that Zimbabwean passports cost much more than the regional average. Applicants also had to wait for extended periods of time for their documents, and the ministry often ran out of ink and paper. Zimbabweans found the whole process extremely frustrating.
The cabinet had ordered the ministry of Home affairs to review the prices back in April, a year after the last review, which resulted in a reduction then from $170 to the current $140. The price of urgent passports, which are processed in only two days, will also be reduced and lost passports will cost the same as new ones to replace.
Commenting on the Daily News website, writer Chenjerai Hove described the price reduction as a good move. He said: Our passports had become some of the most hated documents in our possession because of their price. Now, for us in the diaspora, the idea of traveling to the embassies thousands of kilometers away to obtain a passport form and be photographed should be attended to immediately.
He added: This idea of having to be photographed and finger-printed makes us feel like criminals belonging to a fascist dictatorial state. Hove suggested that the application forms be sent in the mail so people can complete them and send the required money to embassies, instead of wasting time and money on travel and accommodation.
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