Digital mercenaries have infiltrated Malawi’s passport printing system and are demanding an unspecified ransom payout, a development that has resulted in the suspension of issuance of passports.
President Lazarus Chakwera disclosed this in Parliament Wednesday when responding to concerns raised by Blantyre City South East legislator Sameer Suleman when he contributed to the State of the Nation Address delivered on January 9.
The lawmaker demanded a Cabinet reshuffle over the matter.
But Chakwera said while Suleman was right to vocalise the frustration that Malawians are feeling from not being able to have their passports printed, it is against rules of reasonableness and natural justice for Suleman to prescribe a Cabinet reshuffle as a solution to a problem he “has not yet fully understood”.
“As such, since I was the one who called for seriousness in the way we address such matters, I am duty bound to inform Malawians that the printing of passports has been suspended because the system at Immigration was hacked by digital mercenaries who infiltrated the system.
“This is a serious national security breach and though Malawi is not the first in the modern world to be the target of and suffer this kind of cyberattack, we have taken very decisive steps to regain control of the situation,” Chakwera said.
He has since directed the Department of Immigration to provide a temporary solution and resume the printing of passports for Malawians within three weeks while a long-term solution with additional security safeguards is being developed and set up.
“As Commander-in- Chief of our country’s security forces, I wish to issue the following message to the hackers and anyone inside the State apparatus who may have aided and abetted them:
“As long as I am President, government will never pay the ransom money you have demanded after hacking the system, because we are not in the business of appeasing criminals with public money, nor are we in the business of negotiating with those who attack our country,” Chakwera said.
He added that authorities have opened an investigation to trace and track the hack to its source and that when the hackers are found, they will be brought to justice and there will be no clemency or mercy.
Since the start of the year, Malawians have been struggling to access new passports as well as to get old ones renewed.
This has resulted in desperation among those applying for the travel documents as they have had to go to the Immigration Department offices on a number of occasions with no success.
In a memo dated February 20 2024, Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services Director General Charles Kalumo said the department acknowledged challenges some Malawians are facing to enter other countries without passports.
But Kalumo could not indicate when Malawians should expect the passport situation to normalise.
The Daily Times recently carried a story in which it quoted a source privy to the Immigration operations who disclosed the hacking incident.
Prior to the hacking, the source said, the Immigration Department had been trying to claim the system from a supplier using “dubious” means.
On other questions that Chakwera responded to, the President once again had an easy afternoon.
It was a case of either the President being on top of his game or the lawmakers failing to nail him down with provoking follow-up questions.
On the menu were five questions bordering on public finance management, food security, public service pensions management and gold purchases by the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
Addressing a question from Leader of the Democratic Progressive Party in the House, Mary Navicha, on measures the government is putting in place to cover the expected food shortfall in the wake of the current dry spell, Chakwera said government is conducting a scientific assessment to establish the extent and impact of the dry conditions.
“Additionally, my administration will equip smallholder farmers to engage in irrigation as soon as the current crop is harvested.
“Early engagement in irrigation activities will ensure that the crops mature before the water sources run dry,” Chakwera said.
He added that authorities will engage smallholder farmers to utilise residual moisture for the production of maize and other crops.
On challenges retired civil servants are facing to access their pensions, Chakwera said the cause is the increase in the number of those retiring on voluntary basis, which affects government planning.
He said he had instructed the Ministry of Finance to finalise working on a facility that will assist government to clear the backlog.
