Obtaining your Congolese passport: a real obstacle course
If you’re Congolese, you probably know how difficult it can be to get a passport right now. Whether in the Democratic Republic of Congo or abroad, in the capital or in the provinces, the difficulties are such that the emergency no longer has priority because the wait is long. The reason ? Passport printing capacity has decreased considerably, going from more than 1,000 or even 2,000 per month to only 400 monthly.
According to Christophe Lutundula, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and La Francophonie, the current operator, LOCOSEM, has not renewed its aging equipment, which has considerably reduced passport printing capacity. This situation has led to the accumulation of tens of thousands of requests, discouraging many citizens.
Faced with this worrying reality, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and La Francophonie reassures that measures are being taken to remedy the situation. A new operator should take charge of passport printing from November, replacing LOCOSEM whose contract expired more than nine months ago. Summons have been sent to LOCOSEM to demand the surrender of passports, and if necessary, legal procedures will be initiated.
But that’s not all. In order to streamline the process of obtaining passports, an order was signed to decentralize the issuance of this identity document. Capture centers will be created across the country, notably in Kinshasa, in the provinces of Kivu, Kasaï, Kongo-Central, and others. The new operator will have to quickly finance these centers in order to make the task easier and reduce waiting times.
It is important to emphasize that upkeep and maintenance work on the printers was already announced to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last May. However, this period of suspension of data capture and passport printing has clearly not resolved the problem in a lasting manner.
Obtaining a passport is a fundamental right for citizens and plays an essential role in the free movement of people. It is therefore essential that the Congolese authorities take the necessary measures to resolve this crisis and provide citizens with the documents they need.
In conclusion, the process of obtaining a Congolese passport is currently a real obstacle course. Difficulties with passport printing capacity have led to interminable waiting for many Congolese citizens. However, measures are being taken to remedy this situation, with the imminent arrival of a new operator and the decentralization of passport issuance.. Hopefully these actions will resolve this problem and facilitate access to passports for all Congolese.