Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services has highlighted foreign exchange shortage as a factor to delayed resumption of passport printing in the country.
The department says it has installed new high-capacity passport printers in Blantyre and Mzuzu, but is yet to roll out at full scale to clear the backlog.
Passport printing has resumed at its headquarters in Blantyre after nearly four years of suspension, but progress remains significantly constrained by limited access to forex needed to procure essential consumables.
During a visit on Monday, The Nation observed that printing was underway, but at a snail’s pace with only a fraction of daily demand being met. Between 3.30pm and 4.45pm on the day, 50 passports were printed.
In Mzuzu, operations are yet to transition into full-scale production, with the newly installed printer still undergoing pretesting while Mangochi remains further behind as its printer is yet to be delivered.
The department’s national spokesperson Pasqually Zulu in an interview on Monday confirmed that although the new printers are technically functional, lack of foreign currency has delayed procurement of critical inputs such as passport booklets, ink and ribbons.
“The major challenge at the moment is forex. We require foreign currency to import consumables, and this has affected the speed at which we can print passports and clear the backlog,” he said.
Zulu said the department is currently grappling with a backlog of about 130 000 passports.
Ruth Yotamu, who applied for her passport in February this year and received her it on Monday in Blantyre, described the moment as a long-awaited breakthrough after weeks of uncertainty and costly follow-ups.
“I had to relocate from Nsanje to Blantyre just to keep checking on the process. It has not been easy, but I’m relieved to finally have it,” she said.
Equally elated was John William, a security guard from Chilomoni Township in Blantyre, who said obtaining his passport marked a turning point as he plans to seek employment opportunities in South Africa.
Despite these individual success stories, many applicants remain in queues, uncertain about when their passports will be out.
Ministry of Homeland Security described the procurement of new printers as a long-term solution to passport delays. However, the current situation shows that technological upgrade alone cannot resolve the crisis.
Last week, Deputy Minister of Homeland Security Norman Chisale toured the department’s headquarters and expressed optimism that passport services would soon stabilise.
Malawi’s passports printing got messed up in 2021 after the previous administration cancelled a $60.8 million (about K106.3 billion) TechnoBrain contract due to alleged poor handling by its predecessors. TechnoBrain signed the contract in March 2019.
In 2023, government re-engaged Techno Brain on a temporary basis as it sought to find a replacement.
