* Thengo was told by the Israeli Immigration officers that his passport was ‘fake’ as it could not read in their system
* Consequently, he was denied entry into the State of Israel on account of the fake passport issued by the Immigration Department
By Duncan Mlanjira
Stevens Prince Thengo has sued the Department of Immigration & Citizenship Services, demanding K300 million compensation for breach of statutory duty, false imprisonment, humiliation, mental anguish and reimbursement of expenses.
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According to a letter of notice from his lawyers, John Tennyson, Kawelo & Associates dated February 3, 2025 and copied to the Attorney General, Thengo is a holder of passport number MWA289222, which was issued in Lilongwe by Immigration Department (under Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security) on June 1, 2024.
The lawyers quote Thengo as reporting that in December 2024, “relying on the said passport, [Thengo] planned to travel to Israel for a holiday and consequently booked air tickets, accommodation and activities in anticipation for the trip”.
Thengo reported to his lawyers that on December 24, he traveled by road from Malawi to Lusaka where he was to depart for Israel through Kenneth Kaunda International Airport.
But upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel on December 25, Thengo was told by the Israeli Immigration officers that his passport “was fake as it could not read in their system” and that “consequently, he was denied entry into the State of Israel on account of the fake passport issued by the Immigration Department”.
“On the evening of same December 25, he was embarrassingly put on a plane to Lusaka, Zambia and upon arrival, he was arrested for producing a fake passport and eventually spent two nights in custody.
“He was only released on December 28 upon the intervention of the Malawi Consulate officials in Zambia and his lawyers in Malawi and Zambia.
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“As an institution with mandate to issue passports, we verily believe that the Department has a statutory duty to issue valid travel documents [and] it is for this reason that the passports issued by the Department are clearly written and presented as being valid for all countries unless otherwise endorsed.
“The Department clearly breached its duty in issuing a passport to our client which was not considered to be valid by the Israel Immigration officers and consequently our client suffered damage and loss.”
The lawyers maintain that their client’s “right to liberty was violated” by being detained at Ben Gurion Airport, sent back to Zambia where he was put in custody and only released on December 28.
“He was humiliated and his reputation was injured from the point of detention in Israel as the authorities there treated him like a fraudster who was using a fake passport and exposed him to ridicule and contempt.
“He lost all his hard-earned money which was used to buy air tickets to and from Israel and for booking accommodation and activities he planned to conduct during his stay in Israel.”
The lawyers thus demands the K300 million as compensation and by notice of the demand letter, the office of the Attorney General should treat it as a notice to sue the Government of Malawi under Section 4 of the Civil Procedure (Suits By or Against the Government or Public Officers) Act Cap. 6:01 of the Laws of Malawi in the event that the demand is not met within the prescribed 90 days from February 3, 2025.
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