Hundreds of people were left stranded at the Registrar-General’s (RG) office following the alleged unavailability of paper used to produce the newly-introduced e-passports, NewZimbabwe.com reported.
A source at the RG’s Office told the publication that they had stopped producing the e-passports because of a glitch. The source is cited as saying:
There is no paper and the contractors contracted to produce the e-passports have not been paid.
This would be the second time Zimbabwe’s e-passport processing system has run aground in two months with authorities unsure of when the crisis will be over.
Last month, the Registrar General, Henry Machiri said they had experienced challenges in the issuance of vital civil registration and travel documents due to a technical fault.
The government launched the e-passport in December 2021 in a development that saw Garsu Paulis getting the nod to produce modern passports that comply with global aviation benchmarks.
Authorities say the non-biometric Zimbabwean passports will remain valid until they expire in December 2023.