I say its the pilots job to find out what permits he is going to require, and be exhaustive in your questioning!
We fly into Zambia on a regular basis and find people very helpful. One peice of advice when organizing your TASP's though is to always get the names of people you speak to. Always follow a fax up with a phone call immediatley afterwards. The favourite respose to asking if your permits are ready is "we havn't recieved your application". Tell them who you have spoken to, and lo and behold its ready!
Cheers
KF