Ministry of Homeland Security has threatened to fire corrupt officers demanding money from passport applicants to swiftly process their passports at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services.
The warning came barely a day after our sister paper Nation on Sunday published an investigative story exposing how some immigration officers are siphoning money from Malawians desperately in need of the travelling document by charging “collection fee” of as high as K200 000 even after clients already paid the official K50 000 passport processing fee.
The statement issued on Monday was signed by Ministry of Homeland Security Principal Secretary Steven Kayuni who said his ministry is shocked by news that some individuals and Immigration officers demand bribes from applicants to release their issued passports.
Kayuni asked Malawians to report corruption related cases at Immigration to the Police, Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Office of Ethics and Integrity at the ministry’s headquarters.
“Both the public and Immigration officers engaged in such malpractice will be arrested, arraigned in the Court of Law, and for public officers immediately dismissed following the administrative process,” reads the statement in part.
In an interview yesterday, Kayuni said his ministry is following up the matter to identify the suspects before dealing with them.
“We will get to the bottom of it to identify the people who are demanding bribes,” he said.
However, Kayuni could not indicate how long the ministry will complete its follow-up.
Meanwhile, Immigration Department commissioner responsible for administration Vivian Kasambo has also cautioned immigration officers against demanding extra money outside the prescribed fees.
Addressing officers during Monday morning parade at the department’s headquarters in Blantyre, he expressed worry that some officers were involved in the malpractice.
Said Kasambo: “Management is not happy with whatever is happening, and I sternly caution you to change, otherwise the law will haunt you.
“I am urging you to catch all dobadobas out there that are scamming money from our client [s], ending up tarnishing the department’s reputation.”
Commenting on the matter, governance scholar at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas) Andrew Kaponya observed that the only way to end corruption and bribes at the department is to punish the culprits.
The Nation on Sunday probe, conducted in the past six months, established that paying the application fee of K50 000 for an ordinary passport was no guarantee that the applicant would get the document when it is ready.
The story further established that unscrupulous Immigration officers demand a collection fee, ranging from K100 000 to K300 000, which is shared among those who process and print the document.
Our undercover journalist paid the extra K400 000 for the release of two passports issued more than six months ago, but could be collected because struggling citizens could not raise the money.
