What You Need to Know
District Administrators from across Lesotho gathered in Mohale’s Hoek to discuss solutions for the ongoing passport backlog. The meeting highlighted resource shortages and staff limitations as key challenges. Temporary staff will be hired to alleviate production issues, and a follow-up meeting is planned to assess progress in resolving these public service concerns.
Africa-Press – Lesotho. District Administrators (DA’S) across the country, alongside their Senior Passports Officers convened a meeting in Mohale’s hoek district in an effort to find solutions to the on-going challenges facing various passport offices in the country.
District Administrator Moleboheng Lebele, stated that unsatisfactory issuance of passports had been a topic on everyone’s lips, and it is about time District Administrators established the root cause analysis of such a backlog, noting they have discovered that officers do not have enough resources like stationery to use in their day to day running of the offices as well as poor infrastructure.
He revealed that with the main challenge being shortage of staff in production department, such challenge had been addressed by hiring temporary staff.
Ms. Lebele further indicated that districts had been urged to send all passport applications to the Production Department in Mohale’s Hoek, for printing, adding that DAs will have a follow up meeting after Easter holidays to check progress made in the other districts.
She asserted that they had come to a decision that Passport Officers allow themselves to be under the authority of DA’S, so that when their offices do not have enough budget, such officers be catered for in DA’s budget.
On the other hand, in an interview with the Agency, Senior Passport Officer Mrs. ‘M’alerato Ramalaka confirmed that Mohale’s Hoek does not have any backlog.
She expressed appreciation on the efforts made by DA’s, noting that sometimes when people are not close to the situation, they do not feel the heat felt by those in offices.
She asserted that the district authorities had taken the first step in finding a solution, the District Administrators would assist in involving higher authority to find permanent solutions for public grievances.
In recent years, Lesotho has faced significant challenges in public service delivery, particularly in the issuance of passports. The backlog has led to public frustration, prompting government officials to seek immediate solutions. The District Administrators’ meeting reflects a proactive approach to address these systemic issues and improve the efficiency of passport services across the country. By collaborating with Senior Passport Officers, the administrators aim to streamline processes and ensure that citizens receive timely access to essential documents.
