Chakwera calls for secure digital platforms

President Lazarus Chakwera has urged government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to ensure that digital platforms they introduced as part of the digitisation process are safe and secure from fraudsters.

The President said this yesterday at the Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe when he presided over the launch of two digital platforms, namely Malawi Business Registration System and the Land Information Registration System.

In reference to the recent hacking of the passport processing digital platform in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services which has stopped issuing of passports, he said digital platforms should be safe from intrusion.

Said Chakwera: “Digital systems are good and efficient, but we need platforms that are secure. We need to train the staff responsible for these platforms on what to do when there is a problem or when the system is under any form of threat.”

The President said he was hopeful that the digital platforms will eliminate challenges previously faced in the old system and do away with shortcuts in the handling of official transactions.

In his remarks, Minister of Lands Deus Gumba said the Land Information Registration System will help to remove challenges the land sector has been facing in the way land matters are administered.

“For decades, the land sector has been facing a lot of challenges: corruption, fraud, illegal transactions and many others, making the process of land acquisition and titling in this country expensive and lengthy to the disappointment of many Malawians,” said the minister.

He said the ministry embarked on the project to digitise land transactions following the President’s directive that a solution to challenges in land related services be found.

Gumba said the ministry is setting up Help Desks in the first phase of the initiative in Mzuzu as well as Lilongwe at Zowe House and Surveyor General’s Offices, Blantyre and Liwonde in Machinga to help those who cannot make transactions on their own.

On the Malawi Business Registration System, Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo said the digital system will ease business registration processes and give many Malawians an opportunity to open businesses.

“Many people were hindered by the old manual system which was taking too long giving loopholes for corruption along the process,” he said.

The two platforms were developed with support from the World Bank.

Speaking during the launch, World Bank country manager Hugh Riddell said he was impressed that the project is now functional and has started showing benefits.

He said: “I am happy that we have reached this far. Already, 21 000 businesses have been registered through the Malawi Business Registration System and we are targeting to register more customary land through the Land Information Registration System.”

During the launch, the President and other delegates were taken through pavilions to appreciate how the two systems will be operating.