By Isaac Salima:
Passport seekers Wednesday flocked to the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services in Blantyre, a day after it announced the resumption of service delivery.
However, all was not rosy as the service seekers were left frustrated as network glitches disrupted the services.
The department’s headquarters, which are in Blantyre, suspended services in March this year after the system was allegedly hacked.
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And, following the announcement that services had resumed, people turned out in droves at the department’s offices in the commercial capital.
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It was clear that it had been a long day coming.
However, when we visited the premises around noon, we found people in long queues.
One of the people, Vincent John, a new passport applicant from Che Musa in Blantyre City, said he had been standing in a queue for hours while waiting for his turn to deposit application fees.
“I have been standing here for about four hours but nothing is working. They say that network is a challenge. This is sad because the queue is long. Why were they calling us if they knew that they were not yet organised?” questioned John.
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Another applicant, Madalitso Msiska from Bangwe Township in the same city, alleged that some people were being assisted using the backdoor.
“We have seen other people jumping the line, getting assisted and going home while we are still here. They are telling us that there is a network problem and why are others being assisted?” Msiska said.
We also learned that some new passport applicants and those seeking to renew their travelling documents had challenges to have their information captured due to the problem of network.
However, the department had not started printing passports as this is still being done in Lilongwe, the administrative capital.
Passport seekers are only able to have their data captured using biometric system, enquire about the status of their passports and process other services.
When contacted, Immigration Department national spokesperson Wellington Chiponde said services had resumed on a high note.
“We have, indeed, started the provision of services. We have started on a high note and a high number of people turned up. About network problems; those are expected challenges and we are working around the clock to ensure that we address all the nitty gritties,” Chiponde said.
In March this year, the department announced the resumption of the printing of passports after the services were suspended in February this year following the hacking of the printing system.
The services are yet to resume in Mzuzu and Mangochi.
