By Isaac Salima:
The Embassy of the Republic of Malawi in Washington D.C. has run out of materials that facilitate the processing of some travel documents, The Daily Times has learned.
The development means Malawians who stay in United States of America (USA) and Canada, among other countries of accreditation, and wish to travel home or conduct cross-border business may be affected.
Passport renewal is one of the affected services.
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The consular office has, in a statement, corroborated the development.
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“The Embassy of the Republic of Malawi in Washington D.C wishes to inform all members of the Malawian diaspora community in the USA, Canada and other countries of accreditation that the consular office is still not processing passport renewals.
“The consular office is still limited with processing travel documents, police clearances, apostilles [a certificate that verifies the authenticity of a public document’s signature, seal, and position of the official who issued it] and no objection statements,” the statement reads.
The document, which the Malawi Ambassador to USA Esmie Chombo has signed, does not indicate when the affected services would resume.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Defenders Coalition Executive Director Gift Trapence has called for a quick solution to the issue.
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“HRDC is concerned with this development as it will negatively affect many Malawian businesses in the diaspora and this is a disservice to them. The embassy is very key and should not be allowed to have limited operations. As such, we are calling upon the government to normalise its operations as soon as possible,” Trapence said.
Cross-Border Traders Association of Malawi President Steve Yohane also called for urgent action on the matter.
“Those documents are important when conducting business and, surely, the suspension of some services will affect traders. We ask the authorities to swiftly address the matter,” Yohane said.
