Applicants lay bare passport woes

Malawians seeking to escape tough economic times to places they feel have greener pastures are having their dreams derailed or thwarted altogether by some immigration officers who demand extra cash to process their passports, but end up being dodgy, PATIENCE LUNDA has found out.

Securing a passport in Malawi has become a daunting task due to two prominent issues: a reduction in printing capacity by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, leading to prioritisation of emergency cases, and the requirement for applicants to pay more than the recommended fees.

In exclusive interviews with The Daily Times, applicants, whose identities we have concealed due to their pending passport issuance situations, reported instances of officials demanding additional money to expedite the processing of the travel documents.

Three individuals from Euthini in Mzima District shared their experiences, expressing their frustrations at the prolonged wait for passports they applied for in September last year.

The applicants, determined to travel to South Africa in search of better opportunities, recalled being asked by an officer to cough out extra money on top of the stipulated fees for their passports to be processed.

Despite complying, with one paying K10,000 and the other two contributing K20,000 each, to an unnamed officer, their passports remained unprocessed after a 21- day wait – a period exceeding the norm one for a regular passport, which costs K90,000.

The three discovered that others, who applied for the document in the same month, had received their passports promptly after providing additional payments.

One applicant, a groundnuts farmer, felt betrayed as the money she used was essential for her family’s wellbeing.

“I come to check if my passport is out when people say they have collected theirs, but months down the line, I am yet to receive mine.

“I have to do some jobs to raise transport to come here. I come from a poor family and I am responsible for caring for my two children and my old mother, which is why going to South Africa seems like a solution to my problems,” she said. Another applicant, a casual labourer, detailed the financial struggles of raising transport money for transport to immigration offices in Mzuzu, while another applicant, a subsistence farmer, lamented the lack of response from immigration officials who allegedly received the extra money.

“He stopped attending to my calls despite his assurances that I would get the passport without any challenges,” she said.

Praise Mziya, who got her passport in November last year, disclosed that she had to pay an extra K70,000 to an officer to have the document processed.

These stories highlight a pattern of alleged corrupt practices within the department, intensified by the shortage in the supply of passport booklets.

In December 2021, the Office of the Attorney General terminated a passport contract with Techno Brain, citing irregularities.

However, the government is yet to secure a new supplier, resulting in a backlog of applications and further allegations of corruption.

Spokesperson of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, Wellington Chiponde, said he was not aware of corrupt practices going on in the issuance of passports.

Chiponde, however, acknowledged the presence of individuals posing as immigration officers to defraud clients.

He stressed that the department’s is committed to professionalism and integrity.

“We are an institution that values professionalism and integrity and we have a zero-tolerance stance on corruption. We are committed to providing our services professionally and have effective systems to counter corruption,” Chiponde said.

Executive Director of the Centre for Social Transparency and Accountability, Willy Kambwandira, urged the government to expedite the recruitment of a passport supplier.

Kambwandira encouraged alleged victims of corruption in processing the travel documents to report their cases to relevant authorities for action.

“We have been expecting government to identify a supplier for the passports as soon as possible. The implications of the delays are that it is breeding corruption and forcing vulnerable people to cough more money than they would have.

“The allegations should be thoroughly investigated so that the culprits are taken to book,” Kambwandira said.

Spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General, Emmanuel Lawyer, assured that a new passport supplier would be announced soon, saying government is adhering to proper procurement procedures.

“Government is following the right procedures in this process and, as of now, we have enough passport booklets and people are being helped,” he said.

In April 2023, the Anti- Corruption Bureau arrested an immigration officer in Mzuzu for overcharging passport applicants.

The incident reflects what is seen as broader sentiment among Malawians, with 66 percent declaring their dissatisfaction with the government’s anti-corruption efforts, according to Afrobarometer surveys.

There have been several cases of foreign nationals illegally obtaining Malawian passports apparently after bribing immigration officers.