The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mrs. ‘Machabana Lemphane Letsie has refuted rumours that the Ministry will hire temporary staff in its passport department.
This, she said in an interview a few days before Basotho return traditional machine readable passports to the Ministry, following a call that was made earlier in June.
Mrs. Letsie said the Ministry will only increase working hours at passport offices depending on the demand for electronic e-passports applications.
She said that she could not specify the opening and closing hours for such services at the present moment as this will also depend on the demand.
The Ministry urged Basotho whose passports begin with the number RA, RB, SA and DA to return them from July 02 and apply for electronic passports.
The e-passports will be offered free of charge to such individuals and the noted passports must be returned until December 31, 2018.
Meanwhile the ministry announced that citizens above the age of 16 are expected to present both a Birth Certificate and an Identity Card when applying for e-passport while those under the age of 16 will only be required to present a Birth Certificate.
The e-passport was introduced in the country in 2013. It bears the biometric details of the bearer, including their fingerprints or the iris, which are all features unique to an individual.