After years of lobbying by Members of Parliament, the government has approved that they should be issued with diplomatic passports.
The announcement was made by the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Makonde legislator Kindness Paradza in the National Assembly on Wednesday. He said:
I want to thank His Excellency the President on behalf of all the 350 parliamentarians that for the first time since our independence honourable members are going to have diplomatic passports.
A diplomatic passport is a passport issued to persons who work as a representative of a government. Holders of diplomatic passports may qualify for immunity in some cases.
It’s not a free pass to cross frontiers, but one can get a different treatment, even tax exemptions.