Passport shortage hits hard

Passport printing problems at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services have hit hard Malawians seeking to travel outside the country.

During our visit to the Department’s head offices in Blantyre yesterday applicants were seen waiting in vain to get their passports.

In an interview, one of the applicants, Maggie Chintchewa from Balaka, said she applied for an ordinary passport in November last year to travel to South Africa to pick up her young sister who is critically ill.

She said due to the urgency of the passport, some immigration officers asked her to pay additional K60 000 without a receipt to swiftly process it.

Said Chinthewa: “Due to our sister’s condition, I paid a total of K150 000 hoping that I would get the passport quickly to ferry my sister back home. She has been sick for three months now and there is no one to look after her.

“So, it is frustrating that I am failing to get my passport despite all the efforts I have made.”

Chinthewa’s situation mirrors how Malawians are struggling to acquire Malawian passports. Another applicant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that he has lost a job opportunity in the United Arab Emirates due to the department’s delay to issue his passport.

He claimed that he applied for the passport in October last year.

In a separate interview, Immigration director general Charles Kalumo admitted that they are struggling to issue passports due to shortage of passport booklets.

“I don’t want to commit myself on the exact date we will resume the normal printing because the problem is not with my department, but let me assure Malawians that the problem is temporary and will be addressed soon,” he said.

Sources at the Immigration Department say currently they are printing less than 50 passports a day in their four offices against an average of 1 500 a day under normal circumstances.

In 2021, Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda terminated TechnoBrain contract saying the decision was based on a contractual clause of convenience and public interest.

In January last year, TechnoBrain issued a statement asking for a continuation/resumption of the terminated contract, arguing that the proposal was a win-win situation for Malawi as the firm had laid an important foundation for the passport system in Malawi, including training of staff.

The deal also involved the introduction of an electronic passport.

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