Zikhale laments passports mess

 Minister of Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma has lamented challenges dogging the restoration of the passport issuance system and dared

 and Citizenship Services to move with speed to clear the backlog. the Department of Immigration

Dur ing a v isi t to the Immigration Headquarters in Blantyre yesterday, the minister said the passports application backlog stands at 35 000 while the department is printing about 500 booklets a day.

In an interview on the sidelines of his visit, Ng’oma acknowledged that there was a general outcry on the slow pace of passport printing in Lilongwe.

He said: “We have passport stocks that are available and that nobody can fail to get a passport, but the issue is the slowness of the printers that we have temporarily acquired.

“What we need now is to ask the DG [director general] to work out so that some people can work at night just to make sure that, that backlog is cleared or find a better solution to clear the backlog of 35 000.”

Ng’oma also faulted the manner the Malawi Government handled the termination of the Techno Brain contract, saying it should have been cancelled when a replacement was identified.

Malawi has experienced passport issuance challenges ever since Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda in December 2021 cancelled a $60.8 million (about K103.3 billion) Techno Brain contract due to alleged poor handling of the contract by

 the former governing Democratic Progressive Party administration. Techno Brain signed the contract in March 2019.

He said the contract was fraught with irregularities and he wondered how controlling officers went ahead to sign it.

But in 2023, government re-engaged Techno Brain on a temporary basis as it sought to find a replacement. However, in February this year the Immigration Department suspended issuance of the passports due to a system failure.

Meanwhile, the government has engaged E-Tech Systems, a Malawian firm, as the new passport system supplier to address the crisis at Immigration.

However, the award of the contract has raised eyebrows. Earlier this week, Public Procurement and Disposal of

 Assets Authority indicated that it did not handle the trasanction.

When asked how E-Tech Systems was identified, the minister said the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) arranged a special committee chaired by the Attorney General which identified the local information and communications technology (ICT) firm to provide a quick solution.

Ng’oma said the contract is temporary and that the Immigration Department will soon flight an advert looking for the recruitment of a long-term supplier. “But for the main supplier, we are doing it and anytime I will ask the DG and team to advertise to help us do a permanent job, just like the way Techno Brain was doing,” he said.

A passport seeker in Blantyre, Agnes Kaonga, said it was frustrating that for close to a year she has been failing to acquire the traveling document.

The minister’s visit comes about two weeks after a group of passport seekers petitioned President Lazarus Chakwera to fire him and Immigration chief Charles Kalumo for allegedly failing the nation.

But responding to the call to resign, Ng’oma said he was performing his duties diligently.

He also said the mess was negatively portraying the President and himself yet they are not responsible for printing passports.

Said Ng’oma” “What are the bottlenecks [affecting passport printing] you are experiencing? Whatever you do affects the President and even myself, but does the President print passports?”

In an interview yesterday, leader of Concerned Citizens of Malawi Edward Kambanje accused Ng’oma of failing to attend to matters of the national interest. He said the group is meeting today to discuss on the way forward following the expiry of the 15 day ultimatum.

Chakwera later announced in Parliament that the passport system was hacked and that the purported “digital mercenaries” were demanding ransom from the government. He directed the department to find alternatives to resume passport printing within three weeks.

In the wake of the mess that has resulted in suspension of passport printing and processing, some quarters accused Techno Brain of having a hand in the purported hacking.

However, in an earlier statement Techno Brain representative Nandan Gopalakrishna said the company empathised with Malawi and swiftly responded to an urgent request for assistance to resolve the issue in January 2024