Maseru, Sept. 03 — Members of the Senate, through the Government Assurances Committee, have conducted a tour of the Passport Office in Maseru to assess the progress of the department following recent claims by the Minister that passport issuance issues have been resolved.
Upon their visit, the Senators met with the Director of Passports, Mr. Mochesele Ntisa, who provided a detailed explanation of the ongoing challenges facing the department. Mr. Ntisa highlighted that while improvements have been made, several issues persist.
One of the major challenges is budget constraints. Mr. Ntisa explained that the consignment of passports they receive is insufficient compared to the volume of new applications.
Currently, the office can process only 50 applications per day. This limitation impacts various categories of applications, including those for emergencies, students, patients, work permits, and ordinary requests.