Passport Crisis Grips Lesotho: Senate Committee Uncovers Delays and Systemic Issues

Lesotho continues to grapple with a passport issuance crisis, marked by public frustration and anger. This is according to a September 2024 report by the Senate Committee on Government Assurances. 

Despite assurances from the Minister of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police (Home Affairs) in August 2024 that passport processing issues had been resolved, the Committee’s investigation reveals a starkly different reality from what it was told. 

In September 2024, the Committee visited Home Affairs to assess the situation firsthand. It expressed concern that senior Ministry officials were not present to welcome them. The Deputy Director of Home Affairs had admitted that the Ministry was still facing many challenges when issuing passports to the nation on time.

Some of the key findings by the committee included the issue of insufficient funds, delays in accessing funds, a large backlog, an influx of applications and non-collection of printed passports. 

Insufficient Funds
The committee found that the Home Affairs operates with inadequate budget allocations. In the 2024/25 financial year, the Ministry requested M100,000 for passport paper procurement but received only M47,000 which it said was insufficient to address the backlog.

Delays in Accessing Funds
The Ministry continues to experience delays in accessing funds due to the late issuance of letters of credit, hindering their ability to pay suppliers and process passports.

Large Backlog
Passport processing backlogs can be dated back to 2023, with 2024 applications largely unprocessed. The Committee found that the Ministry has only 12 officers processing applications manually across the country.

Influx of Applicants
It has been identified that the Maseru District receives approximately 100 applications daily, surpassing the department’s capacity to issue 50 passports per day. In 2024, the Maseru District had 13,000 passport applications.

Non-collection of Printed Passports
It was found that many citizens fail to collect their processed passports, thus exacerbating the backlog. Contributing factors to non-collection of passports, the report found, include lost mobile phones (used for notification) and citizens applying for new passports after misplacing old ones without collecting the processed ones.

Applicants’ Views

The Committee engaged with Basotho applicants who expressed economic disruptions, as many are migrant labourers in South Africa, whose job opportunities are threatened by the lack of passports. Applicants also voiced frustration over the inability to obtain passports for their children and disruptions to travel plans, including education, family matters and tourism. Allegations of corruption have also surfaced due to the difficulties in obtaining passports.

Committee Observations

The Committee observed that thousands of Basotho are being denied their rights to passports and identity documents. Logistical challenges and internal process issues further contribute to the backlog. The current production threshold of 50 passports per day is insufficient to meet demand. In addition, many passports that were produced are not being collected.

The non-issuance of identity documents compounds the passport crisis. As of 2024, the report states, the National Identity Department had a backlog of 110,000 IDs, escalating from approximately 30,000 in 2013.

Recommendations

To address the crisis, the Committee recommended:

1. Dispatching passports to community councils and Principal Chiefs’ offices to ease collection.
2. Deploying police officers at various stations to curb corruption attempts.
3. Issuing lifetime Identity Documents to avoid frequent renewals and alleviate funding pressures (though the department indicated that identity changes with age, and after every 10 years, the identity is never the same for every individual).

This report underscores the urgent need for systemic reforms and increased resources to resolve the passport issuance crisis in Lesotho. The Committee therefore hope the House will adopt the report so that it can be solved.