Immigration Department’s Blantyre office resumes provision of passports tomorrow, July 10

* The Department profoundly appreciates the patience and understanding of passport applicants during the entire period when the services were temporarily suspended in Blantyre

* It reiterates its commitment to meet the expectations of the citizens and address all challenges related to provision of passport services

By Duncan Mlanjira

The Department of Immigration & Citizenship Services is assuring the public of its commitment to providing efficient and reliable passport services as it resumes provision of passports at its Immigration Headquarters in Blantyre — with effect from tomorrow, July 10.

A statement from the Department’s national public relations officer, Assistant Superintendent Wellington Chiponde, says all seeking passports can now access the services — and goes on to “profoundly appreciates the patience and understanding of passport applicants during the entire period when the services were temporarily suspended in Blantyre”.

“The Department reiterates its commitment to providing efficient and reliable services that meet the expectations of the citizens and address all challenges related to provision of passport services,” said the statement issued today, July 9.

Of late, the public had been complaining that passports that recently provided were being rejected at border points following the resumption of the issuance of the travel document, whose services were interrupted last year when the Department’s digital system was hacked earlier this year.

A report published by Malawi News on June 1 this year, indicated that the new passport’s barcodes are failing to read when scanned in some international immigration databases, forcing those countries to reject travel requests by holders.

Sources at the Norwegian Visa Centre in Lilongwe told Malawi News that since March this year, the centre has been facing challenges scanning the new passports and has referred all the cases to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Malawi News further said they contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who “confirmed receiving complaints on the matter” but the Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu told the paper that the government was “not aware of the incidents”.

This prompted Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, George Chaponda, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to issue a statement that the Party was “deeply concerned about the prolonged passport crisis in the country, which continues to affect citizens despite President Lazarus Chakwera’s assurance in Parliament to resolve the issue promptly”.

Chaponda further said: “Why is it that after striving to obtain passports the citizens are not being accepted in other countries? We cannot sit and watch when students are losing scholarship opportunities; when patients seeking medical attention outside are failing to travel and others die.

“The government must not pretend not to have seen the problems when the entourage of the First Lady failed to travel due to the same crisis.

“I urge the President to honor his commitment and provide a clear timeline for the production and issuance of passports. The public deserves to know the cause of the delay and the measures being taken to address it.”

He thus demanded for:

1. immediate release of a comprehensive report on the passport crisis, including the cause and solutions;

2. a detailed plan of action to clear the backlog of applications;

3. transparency in the procurement process for passport materials and services; and

4. accountability for those responsible for the crisis.

“The opposition will continue to hold the government accountable for its promises,” Chaponda said. “We stand in solidarity with the affected citizens and demand swift action to resolve this crisis.”

Earlier this year, when President Chakwera announced in Parliament that it had been hacked by unknown cybercrime experts and were demanding a huge ransom from Government — he declared that his administration had no plans to bow down to the hackers and he asked the government machinery to solve the crisis expeditiously.

The Immigration Department then announced it had successfully completed restoration of e-passport issuance system but when the public complained that the documents being produced are being rejected at the borders and airports, the Immigration denied the reports.

The restoration was reported to be successful, which was done in collaboration of ICT Association of Malawi (ICTAM) — as ordered by Chakwera to include the private sector — and a team that included IT experts from the Department of E-Government in the Ministry of Information; the National Registration Bureau (NRB) in the Ministry of Homeland Security, and the Department of Innovation and Creativity in the Office of the President & Cabinet as well as Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA).

Meanwhile, in an interview with Times360 Malawi in January, Chiponde disclosed the Malawi passport remains one of the most influential and powerfully ranked travel document in Africa, according to a 2024 Passport Index list that was released.

Times360 Malawi reported that the 2024 first quarter passport ranking by Henley Passport Index, a global immigration consultancy firm based in London, ranks the Malawi passport on 8th position in Africa and 67th globally, tying with the Kenyan passport.

This means that holders of a Malawi passport are guaranteed a visa-free access to 76 countries based on the prevailing visa arrangements; a development that ushers significant financial freedoms to holders of the Malawi passport in terms of international investments and business opportunities.

Chiponde told the media house that the benefits of having a powerful passport include: ease of travel across borders, unlocking doors of economic opportunities, strengthened diplomatic ties and promotion of a travelling culture that empowers citizens and attracts global talents.