By Vincent Gunde
President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, has assured the nation that within three weeks the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services will find ways to resume passport printing bringing a sigh of relief to Malawians wishing to travel to foreign countries for various reasons.
President Chakwera has revealed that some individuals have hacked the Immigration system and are demanding huge sums of money from the Government for the system to be back assuring all that Government will not bow down to such demands.
The printing of passports impulse earned nationwide condemnation by Malawians including the Centre for Democracy and Development Initiatives (CDEDI) by issuing a press statement giving Minister of Homeland Security Dr. Kenneth Zikhale Ng’oma seven days to rectify the problem.
In the week, the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services issued a notice that investigations have revealed that the problem was due to a sophisticated ransomware attack saying this incident was exacerbated by internal collaboration with external malicious actors.
The Department said it is in the comprehensive restoration and expect to return to full operation capacity in the coming weeks assuring its clients that the Department is conducting a detailed investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure that this act of sabotage never happens again.
“Your patience and understanding during this time are greatly valued, ”reads the notice on the wall.
Reports coming from South Africa are indicating that the South African government has embarked on a campaign to clean up all illegal foreigners particularly citizens from Malawi that some are being arrested from places like churches, gatherings, markets and streets and some are being sought from their homes.
Reacting on the development, Muvi wa Chilungamo Revolutionary Party (MRP) through its President and Commander in Chief Bantu Saunders Jumah wrote the South African government to issue temporary visas to Malawians in South Africa.
In the letter, Jumah said economic hardship has risen up in Malawi spiced by the devaluation of the buying power of the currency to about 73 percent observing that this has made commodity prices triple and the only hope citizens of Malawi have is by crossing Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers into South Africa.
