By Cathy Maulidi:
President Lazarus Chakwera has told the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services leadership to retake control of the passport issuance system within three weeks or get the chop.
The President issued the ultimatum in Lilongwe Thursday, when he presided over the launch of the Malawi Business Registration System (MBRS) and Land information Management System (Lims).
Chakwera disclosed that he met with the department’s leadership led by Chief Immigration Officer Brigadier General (retired) Charles Kalumo, Homeland Security Minister Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba, Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu, E-Government officials, among others, and discussed the matter.
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“I met the leadership of these institutions and ministries to be updated on what they are doing to recover the passport issuing system, which got hacked. During the meeting, I vehemently stated the importance of recovering the system because this is an issue of national security.
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“During the meeting, I also ordered all the institutions and ministries I summoned to render all the needed support to the Immigration [Department] and get expertise from the ICT Association of Malawi to recover the system,” Chakwera said.
He, therefore, warned that if officers at the Immigration Department fail to recover the system within the three-week deadline he gave on Wednesday last week, he would fire and immediately replace them.
According to Chakwera, what has happened shows recklessness on the part of the Immigration Department, in terms of managing the system, and that this is frustrating him because it is not Immigration Department officials who are suffering but Malawians— who are the service seekers.
“We are here launching two government systems; Malawi Business Registration System and Land information Management System. Let’s not allow what has happened to the passport issuing system at Immigration [Department] to also happen to these two systems we are launching today.
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“And I extend this warning to all other government systems,” Chakwera said.
Immigration Department’s Kalumo was not available for a comment but Zikhale Ng’oma said what the President has said is an indication that he is serious about seeing the problem solved.
“We are working very hard to make sure that the system is recovered and we are ready to join hands with anybody who has solutions,” Zikhale Ng’oma said.
Speaking on the launch of the Land Information Management System, Lands Minister Deus Gumba said, apart from easing congestion at ministry-related offices, the system would help put corrupt elements in check.
Gumba said the system is providing a one-stop platform where one can get all the required land administration-related information in the country.
“For decades, the land sector has been facing a lot of challenges— corruption, fraud, illegal transactions and many others— making the process of land acquisition and titling in this country expensive and lengthy, to the disappointment of many Malawians.
“As you [the President] directed, that a solution to challenges we are facing in the delivery of land-related services be found, the solution has, indeed, been found. The solution is the Land Information Management System that you are launching, Your Excellency,” Gumba said.
And speaking during the launch of the Malawi Business Registration System, Justice Minister Titus Mvalo said manual processes in the registration of businesses were cumbersome, slow, costly and frustrating as clients were required to physically visit the department’s offices.
He said, to make matters worse, the office was in Blantyre City only.
Later, regional offices were established in Lilongwe in the Central Region and Mzuzu in the Northern Region.
“Processing of applications could take up to two weeks or even more, exposing applicants to schemes of unscrupulous officers asking for favours in order to expedite the process. These challenges made it difficult for business owners to register their businesses, and made them give up on Malawi as an unattractive investment destination.
“It is, therefore, with immense sense of pride that I stand before you, Your Excellency, on this occasion of the official launch of the online business registration system which is yet another testament to the steady implementation of your Public Sector Reforms agenda, which aims to streamline, modernise and improve public service delivery,” Mvalo said.
The World Bank provided technical and financial assistance to make sure that Malawi adopts the two systems, making them part of the tools for facilitating national prosperity.
