The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has written to the Ministry of Homeland Security demanding an official update on the ongoing halt of passport issuance in Malawi.
In a letter addressed to Homeland Security Minister Ezekiel Ching’oma, CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa expressed concern over the two-week halt in the issuance of passports by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services.
“For the past two weeks, the Immigration Department has not been issuing passports to the citizenry, contrary to their legal mandate,” Namiwa stated. “Hon. Minister, recently, you were quoted in the local media touting the procurement of a new passport supplier, thereby raising hopes that the unwarranted passport crisis would come to an end.”
Namiwa emphasised that CDEDI is invoking the Access to Information (ATI) Act to compel transparency from the government, arguing that passport seekers and the general public deserve to be informed about developments in the Immigration Department.
“Justify the current crisis in passport issuance. Tell the nation when exactly the issuance of passports will resume. Explain to the nation how the current supplier was identified,” he said.
The call comes in the wake of a recent contract awarded to Madras Security Printers Private Limited of India following the expiry of a previous contract with E-Tech. The new five-year agreement, valued at $29.97 million, is expected to enhance passport security and boost daily production capacity to 2,000 biometric passports.
