The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives ( CDEDI) has demanded the Immigration Department to resume passport printing by Friday, failure of which the organization will call for demonstrations.
Executive Director for Cdedi Sylvester Namiwa made the statement today during a press briefing which the organization conducted in Lilongwe.
About a month has passed since the Department of Immigration notified Malawians about the shutdown of the Passport Issuance System (PIS) after it was allegedly tampered with by some Malawi Congress Party ( MCP) claiming they are Information Technology (IT) experts.
Speaking with this publication, Namiwa said that the issue of passport printing is a matter of urgency hence timely address of the situation matters most.
Namiwa added that despite President Lazarus Chakwera’s address on the same during the State of National Address (SONA) in Parliament where he claimed that the system was hacked, the president is not helping the matter because he has all the travelling documents.
He suggested that the process to restore the system should start as soon as possible to avoid inconveniences that may occur to the people who are planning to travel outside the country searching for greener pastures.
“We are taking Malawians for granted. We have people who are suffering from different diseases ready to seek medical attention from abroad.
How are they going to travel without a passport? Others came here to renew their passports, how are they going back? Mind you, these people went abroad in search of greener pastures.
“Will their companies continue waiting for them to resume their work. What about those who came for holiday,” he said.
He also demanded an immediate passport fee slash, saying Malawians believe that the issue which was holding the passport fee exorbitant charges was the contract between Techno Brain and Malawi Government.
“The passport fee should be K14,000 as we were promised,” he said.
