{"id":1680,"date":"2026-01-29T17:43:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=1680"},"modified":"2026-01-29T17:43:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:43:48","slug":"30-000-passports-issued-in-manicaland-as-new-registry-offices-ease-backlogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2026\/01\/29\/30-000-passports-issued-in-manicaland-as-new-registry-offices-ease-backlogs\/","title":{"rendered":"30 000 Passports Issued in Manicaland as New Registry Offices Ease Backlogs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Manicaland Provincial Registrar\u2019s Office has issued about 30 000 passports since the end of September following the completion of a state-of-the-art civil registry facility in Mutare, provincial registrar Joyce Munamati has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Munamati made the remarks yesterday during a media tour led by the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere, as Government showcased service delivery improvements under the Second Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the modernisation of the Registrar-General\u2019s offices has significantly improved efficiency and reduced long-standing backlogs for civil documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the end of September, we have issued about 30 000 passports here in Manicaland. The completion of this state-of-the-art facility has significantly reduced queues for birth certificates, national identity cards and passports,\u201d said Munamati.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said applicants currently pay US$170 for a passport processed within seven working days, while those opting for expedited service pay US$270 for processing within three working days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Munamati clarified that the Mutare office does not offer a same-day or emergency passport service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the visit, The Wasu Post observed that there were no queues at the Registrar\u2019s Office, a sharp contrast to scenes that previously characterised civil registry centres across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a different perspective emerged from within the office. Speaking to this publication on condition of anonymity, one staff member attributed the absence of queues largely to the high cost of passports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no queue because passports are very expensive. If they were affordable, you would see long queues here,\u201d said the worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comments highlight the tension between improved administrative efficiency and affordability, as demand for travel documents appears constrained by pricing despite faster processing times and improved infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government officials say the upgraded Registrar\u2019s Office is part of broader public sector reforms aimed at improving access to services and restoring public confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether reduced queues reflect efficiency gains alone or suppressed demand due to costs remains a subject of public debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fanuel Chinowaita The Manicaland Provincial Registrar\u2019s Office has issued about 30 000 passports since the end of September following the completion of a state-of-the-art civil registry facility in Mutare, provincial registrar Joyce Munamati has said. Munamati made the remarks yesterday during a media tour led by the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1682,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1680\/revisions\/1682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}