Malawi: Passport racket at Immigration Dept.

Immigration Department public relations officer, Pudensiana Makalamba, said last month the department would recall all passports from holders for replacement, but said the holders will pay the cost for such an exercise.

Investigations at the department have revealed that officials are conniving with foreigners to obtain Malawi passports. Foreign applicants use Malawians as link pads in the process.

Those who obtain passports pay K25, 000 when the cost for one passport is K8, 000.

The racket also targets Malawians desperate to go outside. In this case, the cost for one passport is pegged at K15, 000 and, like those for foreign nationals; the national identity paper is released in one day.

Many Malawians, especially from rural areas, wait two or more months to get their passports, but reports to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) have so far yielded nothing.

ACB officials acknowledge receipt of such complaints, but say investigations in such cases takes longer than necessary because the Immigration Department is a high security area one cannot just pop up into in the name of investigations.

There is no time limit to investigations, said ACB spokesperson Egrita Ndala.

Makalamba said this week the department had not received any complaints from the public and that it would be illogical to act on hearsay.

Let those with information come into the open, she said.

But a member of the racket who resides in Chilobwe Township in Blantyre revealed to an undercover Nyasa Times reporter that the racket existed and that it worked with the knowledge of immigration officials.

The involved officers get K12, 000 from deals with foreigners. Those of us who find the people in need of passports get K5, 000. But in case of locals in need of a quick passport we take K2, 500 while the officers share K4, 500. It is lucrative business, he said.