Malawi Passport processing fee reduced but its lifespan cut from 10 to 5 years

* Why do we like troubling citizens? Are authorities are happy to see never ending queing in Immigration offices?

* If we call this an electronic passport, why not stop printing expiry dates on the document?

* Instead endorse electronically the expiry date so that instead of printing another booklet, it should just be activated

By Duncan Mlanjira

The public has observed that while the Government says it has reduced the processing fee of Malawi passport, it has cut its lifespan from 10 to 5 years.

And also observed is the language used in that reducing by 55% as announced by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship yesterday, it means 45% is left or 45% of 90,000 — which translates that the new fee is MK40,500, says an economic think tank.

“If you reduce to 55%, it means you have knocked off 45% and 55% of MK90,000  is MK49,500 — which is approximately MK50,000,” said the observer, while asking the Immigration Department to change the sentence from reduced by 55%  to read reduced to as the two have different meaning.

 

On the reduction of the lifespan, another observer said: “Why do we like troubling citizens? Are authorities are happy to see never ending queing in Immigration offices?

“If we call this an electronic passport, why not stop printing expiry dates on the document and instead endorse electronically the expiry date so that instead of printing another booklet, it should just be activated.

“This can be same with driver’s licence, ATM cards and other documents. Buying of these materials drains a lot of forex and its not environmental friendly. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” said the think tank on social media.

Yesterday, the Immigration Department announced that it had successfully completed restoration of e-passport issuance system and indicated an advantage of passport fee reduction “by” 55% from K90,000 to K50,000.

In a statement issued by Director General, Brigadier General Charles Kalumo (retired), says the e-passport issuance services have resumed and printing of passports will start gradually in Lilongwe this week and later on in other regions.

The reduction of the fee is for ordinary passports with waiting processing period of 10 days when the system will be fully calibrated and operating normally.

Kalumo further said more details would be announced soon when Ministers of Homeland Affairs & Information will hold a press conference 

“The Department of Immigration & Citizenship would like to thank all concerned Malawians for their patience during the time the e-passport issuance system was being fixed by a team of local experts from various entities who worked around the clock to complete the task within the time frame set by His Excellency the President,” said Kalumo in the statement.

After some reports that the Immigration Department lost important demographic data as a result of the recent cybersecurity breach, Kalumo assured the public that it fully recovered all data.

This was after President Lazarus Chakwera ordered the expeditious restoration of the passport issuance system, which he announced in Parliament that it had been hacked by unknown cybercrime experts and were demanding a huge ransom from Government.

The President announced that his administration had no plans to bow down to the hackers and thus asked the government machinery to solve the crisis expeditiously.

When ICT Association of Malawi (ICTAM) president Clarence Game offered its assistance to the recovery, President Chakwera further ordered the inclusion of the private sector and the process was enhanced through 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, ICTAM urges public entities to always seek support from local experts whenever they face challenges in their operations, including cyber attacks.