E-Tech Systems has refuted reports that it won a contract to supply new passport systems to the Department of Immigration because of its relationship with the country’s President Lazarus Chakwera, his son, Nick Chakwera, and the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
In a recent interview, Chief Executive Officer Raphael Msowoya said his company was awarded the contract on merit after demonstrating the capacity to provide a solution at a time when some unscrupulous people and hackers were demanding billions of Kwachas from the government to hands off the system.
The allegation about the connection with the Chakweras and MCP came about after a photo was shared on social media showing Msowoya together with MCP candidate for the vice presidency Vitumbiko Mumba, Nick Chakwera, and a Serbian government official in Serbia.
However, Msowoya has underlined that the meeting with them in Serbia was a mere coincidence, saying they went there on a private trip that had nothing to do with his trip.
“First of all, the sole mandate of issuing and printing passports rests with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services (DoICS). E-Tech Systems’ current agreement with DoICS does not mandate us to print passports or run the passport printery on behalf of DoICS. Our role is to provide a passport issuance system solution that is integrated into a wide number of support services and key components including the printing module,” he said.
He added that the equipment he supplied on behalf of the Malawi government can print 270 passports each per hour, emphasizing that their deliverables are to provide the solution and that the actual printing is done by the Department.
On the K896 million contract with the government, he said: “The contract price was tied to deliverables which I cannot discuss with the press and the main deliverable was to be able to print a passport within 21 days which we did.”
He revealed that the contract amount for the size of the work they are doing is far more reasonable compared to what others charge internationally.
“There are Malawians who were crying for a foreign business which is very expensive to just recover a locked data without providing a new Passport Issuance System solution,” he said.
He also called on Malawians to understand that his company defied all odds by providing a solution in the quickest possible way at a time when Malawi was in crisis.
“What you have to know is that E-Tech Systems was established in 2010 with a sole director. E-Tech Systems is a business that always supports the government of the day and when we have an opportunity to help wherever possible, we help with our expertise. When the nation was in crisis, we had to come in to help. Do you know how many people died whilst waiting for their passports to travel to India and other countries for medical help whilst other companies were demanding huge sums of money from the government to recover the system?
“And how many are grateful to finally access their passports to access medical treatment? Every person is entitled to their own opinion but what you have to know is that we won the contract on merit after the tasked Technical team trusted us with our expertise,” he asked.
Asked how, as a software company, he managed to get a printing contract, Msowoya said E-Tech Systems is a solution integration company.
“Most companies that claim to be Passport Printers are just integrators and these integrators work with Passport printer manufacturers who mostly don’t work with the Government directly, but through Integrators like E-Tech systems and other Integrators.
‘They buy the printers from manufacturers and brand them as their own. Being an integrator, we bought the Printers directly from the manufacturer on behalf of the Malawi Government at no profit. We did this just to save this country and you can verify this information with the relevant authorities,” he explained.
The softspoken Msowoya has since called on Malawians to love their country and stand together to fight for the common good.
“We are a sovereign state that can make our own decisions. It’s very unfortunate that when a foreigner gets such a contract, Malawians remain silent. We have a lot of multi-billion contracts that have been awarded on single sourcing or restricted tendering and no one talks about it because the suppliers are foreign companies but since this has been given to a Malawian company, people are talking, undermining our abilities to resolve the crisis.
“Let us not be used by a few greedy individuals who are pushing for their agenda to fill their own pockets and tarnish our own country and hold this country at ransom. Malawi is our home, we have nowhere else we call home other than our own Malawi. Let’s stop undermining ourselves,” he said.
