A leaked document from Foreign Affairs Minister Marie Tumba Nzeza has indicated that, the Congolese government wants to extend its contract with Belgium based company Semlex for additional 6 months. Semlex is the company contracted in 2015, to produce biometric passports for Congolese nationals.
The contract is expected to expire on the 11th of June 2020, and the Congolese government had made an earlier announcement not to renew it.
According to the agreement between the Belgium firm and the government of Congo, by the time the contract expires Semlex must transfer government infrastructure, technical data and provide training to Congolese officials.
However due to constraints the government is not yet ready for such process; and the Foreign Minister believes that this could hamper the distribution of passports, as a result she has asked for the extension.
The minister also wants the price charged for the production and delivery of the passports be re-negotiated before the new arrangement can come to effect.
In recent months there have been pressure from Congolese civil society for government to part ways with Semlex, on the bases that the contract between both parties was illegal and benefitted the elite.
The passports which was agreed to be sold at USD185 each, saw the Congolese government keeping USD65, and a company linked to a relative of former President Joseph Kabila receiving USD60
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