By Cathy Maulidi:
On Tuesday this week, the Immigration Department through its Director General Charles Kalumo, announced that it had restored its hacked passport processing system.
It further said issuing of passports would commence this week, beginning with Lilongwe.
So Friday, we visited the Immigration office in Lilongwe to appreciate the situation on the ground.
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Upon our arrival at 13:15, we were welcomed by desperate faces of people pushing their luck to get the passport.
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Although the place was crowded, we noted that not many had queued at the window where people collect passports.
We asked three men and one woman who left the window if they were lucky to get their passports.
All of them said they did not get any passport.
The man said: “I was told that they have started passport issuing yesterday so I came to follow up on my passport which I applied for long ago. I have been told to come back after two weeks.”
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Another man who had just left the spot where customers get passports also said Immigration officers told him to go back on Tuesday next week.
“The situation here is critical. I don’t think getting the passport will be easy but anyway, it’s not that things were better previously.
“They are giving you a sheet of paper where they have scribbled the day your passport will be ready. I’m just hopeful that I will get my passport on that day,” said the man who plans to travel out of the country for work.
The woman we spoke to said she also visited the department to check on the passport she already applied and paid for.
“I have been told to come again next week. They are getting our details again and I have just done that,” she said.
Throughout the hour we spent at the office, we did not see a person being given a passport.
We tried to speak to Immigration officers we found for details. Each one of them could not come out clear if the department is printing and handing out the passports.
Each officer we asked kept on referring us to another officer. The chain of reference would go on and on and on and bring no answers.
To control the crowd, four immigration officers manned the main entrance.
“Ofuna kujambulitsa chonde imani pa mzere uwu, enanu chonde kakhaleni uko musadzadze apa. Pasaime anthu apa chonde [Those of you who want to have your photos taken, please queue here. The rest of you should stay away. Do not gather here. Nobody should stand here, please],” one officer told the people.
We spoke with some who were applying for passport for the first time.
One applicant who had completed the process said he paid K50, 000 for the e-passport as announced by the Immigration on Tuesday.
“But to tell you the truth the process to get to where I have gotten today is not easy. Chinyengo sichinathe kuno [Corruption is still rife here],” he said.
On Thursday, we had taken to Director General Kalumo some of the concerns people are reporting trying to get the passport since the resumption of the services.
We also wanted to hear from him if passport issuing has indeed commenced and how many passports have been printed this week.
Kalumo was angry.
He questioned why we are investigating on the department.
He said he would not share with us the progress made. Rather, he would do so to the government which he reports to.
“I work for the government and not the press, so I will share what we have done so far when we want and that will be shared with government not through you,” Kalumo said.
Asked again if they have started issuing the passports and how many have been issued, Kalumo shot back thus: “Are you part of government?
“We are not friends, you should know we are not on the same level. I am a Director General, I work for the government and you work for Times. Let’s not argue. We are not friends. I have said when we are ready we will share the progress with the government and not you.”
He went on to tell us that we should stop investigating the department.
“Even if we have just printed one passport, the truth is that we have started printing passports and it is over one.
“Be patriotic. You are investigating on us, you are not being professional. You and me let’s not talk anymore, don’t call me anymore and I’m blocking your number right away.”
And he cut the line.
It has been a torrid month for the department and for Malawians seeking to process a passport.
On February 6, we reported that the passport issuance system had been hacked.
On February 21, President Lazarus Chakwera admitted in Parliament that the system had indeed been hacked.
He even said that the cyber attackers were demanding a ransom.
He gave the department 21 days to take control of the system and resume processing of passport.
On March 2, we reported that due to the hacking of the system, all passport data had been lost.
On March 5, the department announced it had recovered the data that was lost.
On Tuesday, March 12, it announced it had completed restoration of e-passport issuance system. That announcement came a day before the expiry of the ultimatum by Chakwera.
