This travel document will now be issued for $ 99. The price was set by the State Department along with the Ministry of Finance. Until recently, it was necessary to pay almost double to get this valuable sesame.
as reported from Kinshasa, Kamanda wa Kamanda
If, according to Congolese opinion, satisfaction dominates after the announcement of this decline, this does not prevent some from asking questions about public contracts for the issuance of passports. A new contract was renegotiated with the company Semlex through the Congolese subsidiary Locosem. A transition agreement before finding a final partner, explains Nicolas Kazadi, responsible for infrastructure at the republic’s presidency.
The cut costs
From now on, the costs for third parties and Commission agents have been cut after bitter discussions. There are still questions about the very first negotiations, which set an unreasonable price per passport.
Several NGOs had also demanded a review of the sulfur agreement with the Semlex company. And the NGO “Congo is not for sale” states that this audit has never taken place. One of the members of this structure, Jean-Claude Mputu, confirms that the transition agreement was concluded with the Congolese subsidiary Semlex in a worrying opacity.
And why not an even lower price?
On what basis, he asks, did we decide to continue with the same company, even if it is temporary? Jean-Claude Mputu still acknowledges that lowering the price of the Congolese passport is an important step forward, but he wants to understand why not allow an even lower price. According to him, the price of a passport should not exceed $ 50.
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