Cameroon increases passport production cost amidst scarcity controversy

Cameroon’s attempts to resolve its passport production woes seem to be hitting the wrong mark.

Many have expressed dissatisfaction with a decision to increase the cost involved in acquiring the document.

Going by a document making rounds on social media, an extract of the law, the cost of getting a new passport stands at 110,00 FCFA as of July 1st, an increase from 75,000 FCFA.

The ordinance which modifies and supplements the 2021 finance law of December 17, 2020, by signed by the Head of State is reported to have been given very limited publicity, given the manner in which the public was expected to take the increase.

A portion of the document reads: “The stamp duty on passports and other documents in lieu thereof is set as follows: national passports. The stamp duty on national passports is set from July 1, 2021 as follows; issuance, renewal and extension of ordinary passports: 110,000 FCFA”.

The move is believed to be part of measures employed by government to raise finances for funding its budget.

The latest move by government comes to add to a myriad of challenges citizens face attempting to get passports. In addition to very long overdue waiting periods. Many have often complained of concerned officials extorting huge sums of money from them before providing the document.