Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered the suspension of issuance of passports following a cyber-attack on the computer systems of Malawi’s immigration service.
Chakwera in a statement on Wednesday February 21, told Member of Parliaments (MPs) that the targeting of the government department by hackers amounted to a serious national security breach.
He further revealed that the hackers were asking for a ransom but maintained that the government would not give in to their demands.
“We are not in the business of appeasing criminals with public money, nor are we in the business of negotiating with those who attack our country,” said the President.
The cyber-attack targeting the immigration service came at a time the demand for passports is high in the country.
Local Malawian publications’ reports indicated that many young people are looking to migrate from the country in search of job opportunities.
Also Read: Govt Gives Way Forward on Passport and IDs Delays
The head of state further stated that he had given the immigration department a three-week ultimatum within which it should provide a temporary solution and ensure full resumption of passport issuance.
For the past two weeks, Malawi has not been issuing passports, with officials describing the backlog as a technical glitch.
Malawians have been demanding answers over the persistent delays in the issuance of the travel document.
Also, this is not the first time that there has been a suspension in recent years.
Malawi passport delays
Last year, the government paused giving out new documents after running out of passport booklets.
There have also been issues since 2021 when the attorney-general’s office terminated a passport contract with a Kenyan IT company that had been offering the service, citing irregularities.
Back in 2021, the Malawian attorney-general’s office terminated a passport contract with the company known as Techno Brain Global, that had been offering the service.
Attorney General Thabo Chakaka while issuing a statement following the termination, cited irregularities within the contract awarding process by the previous government.
The initial $60.8m (Ksh8.8 billion) contract was awarded by the previous government in 2019.
Also Read: Kenya Passport Ranked Among Most Powerful in Africa
However, Techno Brain Global denied of any wrongdoing, insisting that it did not flout any process to win the country’s e-Passport contract.
On its defense, the company maintained that it saying it submitted a bid in response to an international bidding process.
The Malawian passport is ranked as the seventh most powerful alongside Kenya among African countries due to the number of visa-free entries, according to the latest data provided by the Henley Passport Index.
According to the data, the Malawian and Kenyan passports are ranked at number 67 globally,
