Harare — THE outrage over high passport, birth and death certificate fees has spilled into Parliament with MPs demanding that these be reduced to make them affordable to all citizens.

An urgent adult passport currently costs US$670, that of a child below 12 years US$400 while one requires US$50 for an emergency travel document. To renew a passport, one must part with US$400.

Countries that insist on cost-recovery fees tend to charge in the range of US$60 to US$100 for passports.

Birth certificates for children below six years are issued free of charge in terms of Statutory Instrument 110A of 2000 and so are initial national identity documents. Replacement of these costs US$25.

On Wednesday, Uzumba House of Assembly Member Simbaneuta Mudarikwa (Zanu-PF) sought clarification from Home Affairs Co-Minister Giles Mutsekwa as to why the cost of essential documents like passports and death certificates was beyond the reach of many people.

The legislator said the cost of acquiring a death certificate now exceeded that of buying a coffin.

Mwenezi East Member Kudakwashe Bhasikiti (Zanu-PF) said it was every citizen's right to have a passport and challenged the Ministry of Home Affairs, under which the Registrar-General's Office falls, to devise other ways of generating income than depending on passport fee increases.

In response, Minister Mutsekwa said Government was aware that fees for essential documents like passports were beyond the reach of ordinary Zimbabweans and was in the process of reviewing them.

Minister Mutsekwa would not state when the fees would be reviewed or by what percentage.

Passport fees in Zimbabwe rank among the highest in the world.

In South Africa, the most expensive passport costs R352 (or about US$35,20).

On the other hand, in Canada an adult passport with 43 pages costs US$73 and the standard processing time is two weeks. There is no taxpayer subsidy for this passport, the holder having to pay the whole cost of producing the passport.

A Canadian passport for children aged between three and 15 costs US$31 while that for children under the age of three is pegged at US$19.