Passport crisis

 Government plans to procure passport booklets directly from manufacturers to avert the crisis which has seen the Department of Immigration rationing passport.

Attorney General (AG) Thabo-Chakaka-Nyirenda disclosed this in a telephone interview on Thursday, saying the move is one of the options to ensure that dwindling stock levels of passport booklets is addressed.

The AG, in December 2021, terminated a $60.8 million passport printing contract government had signed with Techno Brain Global FZE in February 2019, arguing it was expensive.

Government is yet to hire a new supplier of passport booklets five months after bidders submitted proposals for a restricted passport tender which saw at least 13 firms, including eight local ones, expressing interest.

Chakaka-Nyirenda observed that Techno Brain was not manufacturing the booklets, but was only operating the system.

Said the AG: “There is a distinction between operating the system and manufacturing the booklets. I understand these booklets are manufactured in US and Japan. So, the Malawi Government will have to procure the booklets directly from manufacturers.”

In August last year Techno Brain supplied 23 000 passport booklets which were distributed across the country.

The AG, however, was tight-lipped on how soon government intends to purchase the booklets, but stressed that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services will continue operating the system until a new contractor is identified.

But Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira has urged government to tread carefully when dealing with manufacturers.

He, also, urged government to expedite the process of identifying a new contractor.

Said Kambwandira: “I hope some people are not deliberately creating the crisis so that they can benefit from the shortcuts. We all know how government ended up getting a raw deal from the procurement of fertiliser.”

Last year, government was involved in a botched K750 million fertiliser import deal with a United Kingdom (UK) firm Barkaat Foods Limited.

Chakaka-Nyirenda also confirmed that there are some issues between government and Techno Brain that need to be resolved.

But minutes of the three e-Passport negotiation high- level meetings between Techno Brain Global and Malawi Government held on June 10, July 21 and October 12 2022 at Ministry of Finance at Capital Hill, reveal that Techno Brain Global demanded Malawi Government to pay about $28.5 million (about K29.1 billion) as settlement and contract termination fees.

The minutes show that $22 533 333.33 (about K23 billion) of that amount is the settlement amount, while $6 million (about K6.1 billion) is contract termination fees.

The July 21 meeting agreed that $2.5million (about K2.5 billion) be deducted from the settlement sum, as it was already paid on March 8 2022 under the first interim agreement.

But minutes for the October 12 2022 meeting, attended by officials from ministries of Finance and Homeland Security Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services and

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representatives, indicate that Chakaka-Nyirenda said the outstanding amount was $24 million (about K24.4 billion).six Techno Brain Global FZE

Reads the minutes in part: “The AG explained that the hand over process under the settlement agreement is a very important issue and there has been no clear agreement on what to do with the source code, and that a handover is considered meaningless without having control of the source code.”

Department of Immigration spokesperson Wellington Chiponde earlier acknowledged that they are unable to meet the growing demand for passports.

The contractor was, among others, expected to install emergency passport printing labs at both Chileka International Airport in Blantyre and Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe and, also, computerise passport registration in 19 embassies but this was not done due to the termination of the contract.

The deal also involved the introduction of an electronic passport under the build, operate and transfer model by providing 800 000 electronic passports under procurement reference number IM/01/272/07.

At the time of terminating the deal, the AG said the decision was based on a contractual clause of convenience and public interest which allowed him to discontinue the contract at no cost.

But Anjarwalla & Khanna LLP Director Luisa Cetina, whose law firm is representing Techno Brain Global FZE on the matter, earlier said that prior to entering into the settlement, the government, including a parliamentary committee, investigated the manner in which the 2019 contract was awarded and that there was no flouting of any regulation.

Among the many promises in the campaign for the court-sanctioned Fresh Presidential Election on June 23 2020, the Tonse Alliance said passport fees would be reduced to K14 000, but two years after the alliance got into power, a 36-page passport costs K90 000 while a 48-page one is at K130 000.

Details emerged that for every passport booklet issued by the department of Immigration, Malawians were getting a raw deal as government made a profit of between K30 000 and K117 000, largely due to overpricing