Member of Parliament for Ntchisi South, Ulemu Chilapondwa, has alleged that Joseph Mwanamvekha, the former finance minister in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government, is responsible for the ongoing passport printing issues in the country.
Chilapondwa claims that Mwanamvekha signed a questionable passport contract at the Immigration Department.
He made the remarks on Monday, on a Point of Order when Mwanamveka, as DPP spokesperson of finance was responding to the 2024/25 national budget which he described as hypocritical and deceitful and that it was “dead on arrival”.
Chilapondwa questioned whether it was in order for Mwanamvekha to criticize the current government when he signed a dubious passport contract at the Immigration Department.
He mentioned that Malawi is currently facing issues due to Mwanamvekha’s involvement in a questionable passport agreement.
The Department of Immigration stopped printing passports after what it called a ‘system hack’ from unknown sources.
The government signed a multi-billion kwacha passport contract with Techno Brain in March 2019.
In 2021, Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda terminated the contract faulting the procurement process of the $60 million (about K47.4 billion) contract between Techno Brain and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services.
However, Techno Brain distanced itself from the current passport mess.
In a statement released in February, Techno Brain said it made its assessment and submitted practical suggestions to the Malawi Government, but is yet to get feedback.
“On the contrary, Techno Brain swiftly responded to an urgent request for assistance from the Government of Malawi to resolve the issue in January 2024.
“We conducted an assessment of the situation and submitted practical suggestions to the Government of Malawi on the way forward. We have not heard back from the Government of Malawi on these suggestions to date.”
Techno Brain also said it transferred and completely handed over the operations and administration of the Malawi e-passport system to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services [Dics] in June 2023.
It said: “This was done in accordance with a settlement reached by Techno Brain and the Government of Malawi following the premature termination of Techno Brain’s e-passport contract in October 2022.
“The handover was extensive and in full accordance with the agreement with the Government of Malawi, including training of the Dics officers, handover of all credentials and security protocols, and all customized source code,” reads part of the statement
