By Isaac Salima:
Government officials have been reluctant to provide information about the new supplier for the passport system, following the expiry of the contract with E-Tech Systems.
A three-month extension of the contract between the government and E-Tech Systems ended in November last year.
The contract had been extended after the initial one expired in August of the same year.
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Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Homeland Security, Steven Kayuni, did not respond to our phone calls nor to our questionnaire, despite several reminders.
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Minister of Information and Digitalisation, Moses Kunkuyu, said he would follow up but when contacted later, he said he was still awaiting a response.
Director General of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority, Eddingtone Chilapondwa, said the authority had only cleared the bidding process for the new supplier of e-passports.
“They floated a tender and I am sure they [the Ministry of Homeland Security] have closed it and are now doing the evaluation.
“However, they are in a better position to provide you with details, as they have not submitted a file to me [on the successful bidders] for review,” Chilapondwa said.
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Spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, Wellington Chiponde, promised to revert when asked about who is currently supplying the e-passports.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition Chairperson, Gift Trapence, said that the authorities should provide the information on the new supplier of the passport system so that Malawians should have an opportunity to scrutinise them.
“The Access to Information law is very clear about the need to allow Malawians to access this information.
“The secrecy surrounding the issuance of the contract for the supplier is questionable and Malawians are justified in their speculations. We need the government to release the information regarding the contract,” Trapence said.
Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency Executive Director, Will Kambwandira, concurred with Trapence on the need for authorities to make public information regarding who is currently supplying the passport system.
Kambwandira wondered why the authorities seem “not to have learned from past mistakes”.
“The continued silence and secrecy surrounding the new supplier for the passport system raises serious accountability questions, particularly regarding how the supplier was selected and whether the new supplier has the capacity to meet passport demand.
“In the absence of clear information, one can only conclude that proper due diligence was not conducted or that there are attempts to create panic for personal gain.
“The government must be transparent about the identity of the new passport supplier and explain how this supplier was chosen,” Kambwandira said.
The Ministry of Homeland Security recently assured the public that passport services would not be interrupted during the process of identifying the new supplier.
E-Tech Systems was selected to replace Techno Brain Limited, whose contract was terminated.
This came after the suspension of passport printing services across the country, following an alleged hack of the system.
However, E-Tech Systems faced criticism due to its alleged insufficient capacity. This was after the then Minister of Homeland Security, Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, admitted that there were delays in the printing of passports.
