The Ministry of Home Affairs has said that Government is migrating from machine readable to electronic passports
in order to improve security and conform to the international Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard.
Ministry of Home Affair Public Relations Officer Chifuta Nephas said this in a statement he said the decision was inline with a tender for technical and financial proposals for the e-passport production through a Public Private Partnership (PPP)
Mr Chifuta said the tender seeks to solicit participation from all reputable companies with financial and technical capacity to facilitate migration from machine readable to e- passport.
He said the tender was floated in accordance with the Zambia Procurement regulations which guide and regulate all public procurement.
“The Ministry wishes to disassociate itself from the soeculation and allegations circulating on social media relating to corruption surrounding this procurement and that this tender has already been awarded to a Belgian company as false, malicious and unfounded, and therefore, to be treated as mere speculations.
Arising from that, the Ministry urges all interested companies to respond to the solicitation before the due date for possible consideration,” he said.