Government officials are not forthcoming with information on procedures that were followed to identify a supplier of new passport printers at the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services.
Recently, government officials engaged local firm E-Tech Systems, which has taken over from Techno Brain, in the supply of passport systems following the termination of the contract that was in force.
However, observers are questioning how the new firm was identified, with some linking its ownership to some big government officials.
The new printers have also come under fire following the disclosure by Homeland Security Minister Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, to reporters in Blantyre on Thursday last week, that their capacity has been found wanting as they are delaying the printing of passports.
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The minister said the printers, which are stationed at Immigration offices in Lilongwe, are only printing 500 passports per day.
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Zikhale Ng’oma disclosed that the printers have been temporarily acquired but when questioned as to who supplied them, he said it was the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) that did that.
“OPC had arranged a quick solution to the problem because people were looking for the passports. So, they established a committee headed by the Attorney General and a solution was found. The permanent solution is what we are doing by advertising the tender. That is being done and it is a process,” he said.
However, the minister said Immigration officials have been complaining about the type of printers that have been supplied.
“I need to follow up and find out because it was a committee that handled it [the issue] and they [Immigration Department officials] were not involved. They are saying that if they were involved they would have recommended better printers than the ones that are there because these are light printers,” he said.
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OPC spokesperson Robert Kalindiza said he had no idea on the issue.
On his part, Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority Director Eddington Chilapondwa referred us to one of his officers, Timothy Kalembo, saying he was the one that attended meetings on the matter.
Kalembo did not pick up our calls Sunday.
PPDA spokesperson Kate Kujaliwa asked us to call her another time, saying she was attending a private event.
Last week, PPDA told The Nation that they did not handle the transactions on the issue.
Social media reports have been linking the firm to a prominent figure (name withheld).
We contacted the alleged owner, who did not pick up our calls, when we wanted to seek his reaction on the subject.
However, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency Executive Director Willy Kambwandira said what is happening on the issue only confirms that proper due diligence was not done on the issue.
“It is clear that this supplier lacks capacity to meet the demand for passports. The blame game raises serious accountability questions, particularly in terms of how this particular supplier was identified. Did the government put out an open tender or was the supplier recruited through a restricted bid? How was this particular supplier recruited and which government agency was involved in the recruitment?” Kambwandira said.
Chairperson for Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) Gift Trapence said, in any circumstance, government was supposed to follow laid down procurement procedures.
“HRDC is, therefore, calling upon government to come out clear on how they identified the local supplier. If they have floated procedures, government needs to re-tender.
“Otherwise, such a process is prone to abuse. Citizens of this country have the right to access information. As such, government, through the Ministry of Homeland Security, has to come out clear on the matter to avoid cases where people will be speculating on the issue,” Trapence said.
The printing of passports was halted some months ago following the hacking of the Immigration Department system.
Recently, the department announced the resumption of the printing and issuance of passports in Lilongwe, further indicating that services would, in no time, be extended to other regions of the country.
But the services are yet to return to normal, with passport seekers struggling to get the document in Southern Region districts such as Blantyre.
In Blantyre, the Immigration Department is only issuing temporary travel documents to countries such as Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
