In a move aimed at accommodating citizens in the diaspora, Malawi enacted a law to provide for dual citizenship about three years ago. In these early stages of implementation of the law, there are indications that the policy could be another avenue through which government will bleed money
The dual citizenship policy which Malawi started implementing less than two years ago has already started raising red flags as being potentially another corruption scheme within the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services.
Over 400 applications are under currently scrutiny over fears that fees for their processing may have fallen into illegal pockets instead of the government’s Account Number One.
The matter has stirred the interest of Minister of Homeland Security, Ken Zikhale Ng’oma who has since ordered an audit of the payment process for all dual citizenships applications at the department.
Zikhale Ng’oma has also declined approving the 400 dual citizenship applications filed to his office as they lack proof of payment.
After years of work on the dual citizenship policy, Parliament passed the relevant bill in December 2018. The President assented to the bill into law in March 2019.
Operationalisation of the dual citizenship regulations was gazetted in November 2021 and announced to the general public through a Government Notice Number 59 of the Malawi Citizenship Act.
As defined by the department, dual citizenship is the status where a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen of two countries.
According to the department, only Malawians by birth or descent are eligible to acquire dual citizenship.
Persons who were naturalised, registered or conferred the citizenship of Malawi are not eligible for the Malawi dual citizenship, it says.
The Department of Immigration says dual citizenship application in Malawi costs about $20,000 each.
Zikhale Ng’oma has told Malawi News that he dreads the legal implications if some citizenship applications do not have money in Account Number One.
“I have several applications for dual citizenship that need to be signed, but they are without receipts. I have since ordered the audit on the same,” he said.
He said he has since asked the Department of Immigration to provide all necessary documents before he proceeds with the signing of the dual citizenship.
Further, he said the government also wants to review the security features on the citizenship certificate.
“I would like the department to have a built-in system as opposed to the current manual system that is there for dual citizenship,” he said.
Well-placed sources at the Immigration Department confided in Malawi News that money generated in some of the applications does not go into the government accounts.
“What I know is that the money is used within the office, used by the officers. Officers are providing dual citizenship certificates with demanding proof of payment from the applicants,” said one of the sources.
In a WhatsApp message, we asked Secretary to Treasury MacDonald Mafuta Mwale about allegations regarding the processing of dual citizenship.
He said he would inquire about the issues.
National Public Relations Officer for Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Wellington Chiponde, said he was not aware of the issue.
But he said since 2022, the department has processed about 200 dual citizenships.
“Our department kicked off the processing of dual citizenship applications in January 2022, and the response has been very positive, considering that many who were compelled to renounce their Malawi citizenship because of the old law are now restoring it.
“Right now, over 200 Malawians have been given certificates identifying them as dual citizens,” Chiponde said
He said right now, the amended citizenship law permits persons of full age and capacity to hold citizenship of another country in addition to their Malawi citizenship.
Executive Director for Transparency Initiative, Nicholas Mwisama, has since asked the government to seriously look into the matter.
“The process is prone to abuse, with corrupt officers exploiting loopholes. Let the National Audit Office take up the matter as soon as possible,” he said.
Citizenship issues in Malawi are governed by the 1966 Citizenship Act of the Laws of Malawi. The 1966 law permitted Malawians under the age of 22 to maintain dual citizenship. However, it limits persons of full age and capacity to be dual citizens.
The Immigration Department is perpetually in the limelight with regard to the processing of passports where citizens are waiting for a long time, some as long as more than a year, to have their passport processed – alongside allegations of rampant corruption among officers there for one to have their passport processed.
