Minister demands report on passport ring

Malawi Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister Uladi Mussa has demanded an official report from chief immigration officer Hudson Mankhwala following the passport ring that was busted as reported by Weekend Nation of August 10.

Mussa said on Sunday he wants a report on the whole passport saga before taking action adding, that he suspected the move to be deliberate.

“I need an official report and from the report we will see what to do. Disciplinary action may be taken,” said Mussa.

He said he wants to understand, why after aiding the Burundian, immigration officer Francisco Scova was transferred to Salima instead of taking action against him.

Mussa said he also wants to know the number of people involved in the syndicate, thus those who processed the passports and those involved in the aiding of the Burundians to fly out without going through thorough border check.

Asked if he was not embarrassed at the development, Mussa said: “I am not happy about this. It’s not good. People should not abuse our passport. We have to be patriotic. We must love our country.”

Mankhwala confirmed that he was asked to write a report on the issue.

Weekend Nation

uncovered how Burundians obtain and use Malawian passports and with the help of immigration officers fly to Ireland and other Western capitals where they seek asylum.

Exposed cases show that the Burundians travel as Malawians going for studies in the West, but tear up the papers once they reach Europe and disappear into the crowd.

Scova cleared travel documents for a Burundian who was travelling as a Malawian with the names Alex Kelvin Chipeta who destroyed the documents in transit and was apprehended by German airport officials at Frankfurt.