Madras begins production of Malawi’s new biometric passport

India-based company Madras Security Printers has already produced more than 1,000 Malawian biometric passports since it took over the process this month.

Local newspaper Nyasa Times quotes Homeland Security Minister Ezekiel Ching’oma as confirming last week that “the new system is now active and passport production is ongoing.”

He assured that the new arrangement means Madras will be expected to produce at least 2,000 passports daily, more than double the capacity of the previous dispensation.

The resumption comes after the passport production process was suspended in July by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services for Madras’ system to be set up.

Before then, and on an interim basis, local ICT firm E-Tech Systems was drafted in to produce passports for the country for a couple of months after the government terminated a contract with United Arab Emirates supplier, Techno Brain, over procurement irregularities, corruption and failure to meet contract some obligations

The contract award to Madras was announced back in February when Ching’oma disclosed in a press conference that the company was picked for the job from a shortlist of six bidders, trimmed down from an initial 22.

Estimated at nearly $30 million, the contract will run for five years. Among other things, the contractor will have to clear a huge backlog of passports as well as simplify the passport application process, reducing wait times. There is currently a passport backlog of more than 100,000 in Malawi, Radarr Africa reports.

Some Malawians as already expressing satisfaction with the new system, which the government had promised, will deliver the travel document in an expedient manner.

This is apparently a break with the past where Malawi has faced perennial passport production issues, with instances of backlogs and contractual differences between the government and previous contractors.

The government says the new passport has advanced security features and meets all travel documentation requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The government also has full contract over the data and back-end infrastructure, per 247 Malawi.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometric passport  |  digital ID  |  Madras Security Printers  |  Malawi  |  travel documents