Government recovers 90% of the passports issuing system

Government has indicated that the Immigration Department currently has successfully recovered 90 percent of the passports issuing system that was hacked by unknown people.

This comes barely hours after Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives ( CDEDI) through its Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa demanded the Immigration Department to resume passport printing by Friday, failure of which the organization will call for demonstrations.

Speaking during the Media briefing on Tuesday 27th February 2024 in Lilongwe, Minister of Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma has asked the public to be patient while the ministry through the Department of Immigration is currently carrying out investigations to find out what transpired with the passport system which was ‘hacked’.

“We have engaged into serious investigations which are in progress and currently we ask for patience from the public,” Zikhale said.

He however, said that soon, the ministry through the Department of Immigration will release a report with detailed information.

Ng’oma said people behind the hacking are demanding K2 billion from government but they will not pay the ransom as they are already working on the problem.

In his remarks, Director general for Immigration, Brigadier General Charles Kalumo (retired ) has reiterated that there is need for unity and peace as the investigations are underway.

“This attack is not an individual attack, it is directed to the people of Malawi that is why we need to unite and cooperate as we look for those who were involved,” he said

Kalumo has assured the public that the system will be restored within the president’s directed timeline.

The passport production challenges began in 2021 after the government terminated its contract with Techno Brain for alleged poor handling of the contract by the previous administration.