No New Passports For Zim Citizens

Zimbabwean citizens are currently unable to secure new passports because the government has run out of the paper and ink it needs to issue the documents.

The materials need to be imported but there is no foreign currency available. Only a few emergency passports are reported as being issued for select senior officials. While officials have indicated that there are plans to print passports locally it is unclear how the equipment will be imported.

Meanwhile the vehicle registry in Harare is facing a similar problem with issuing number plates.

The shortages come as the Zimbabwean economy struggles facing regular power cuts lasting most the day. The government last week announced that it was renaming the RTGS dollar the Zimbabwe dollar and that foreign currencies would no longer be accepted as legal tender. Inflation now stands at almost 100 per cent, its highest since the government abandoned the former Zimbabwe dollar in 2009.