By Vincent Gunde
Political activist Bon Kalindo, says despite Deputy Minister for Homeland Security Norman Paulosi Chisale visited the Immigration Department for the Centre in Lilongwe promising for a better tomorrow, people are still finding problems in accessing their passports.
Kalindo said it is sad that the whole Immigration Department is operating without a standby generator claiming that when power is interrupted, customers are stranded and have nowhere to go waiting for the operations to start.
He has appealed to the new government of the DPP to have a critical eye with what is happening at the Immigration offices saying the challenges are endless and this will be a yardstick for some millions of Malawians to measure the DPP successes in 2030.
Speaking through an audio clip, Kalindo has warned the DPP that if care is not taken at the Immigration offices, this will be used as a de-campaign for itself because millions of Malawians will not trust the DPP and its leader President Professor Mutharika.
Kalindo said it is heartbreaking to see some who are coming for passports at the Immigration offices are coming from districts and do not have money to book for themselves a place to stay over a night and are forcing themselves to sleep in the corridors.
He said some other people wants to access the passport for school and health wise saying because of the continued challenges facing the Immigration offices, the challenges are yielding into anger over the new government for not coming to their rescue.
The activist said reports coming in from South Africa are indicating that Malawians are not assisted besides lodging complaints to the High Commissioner saying this is resulting to many being on the run from that country’s police and Home Affairs Ministry for no proper documentations.
He has claimed that during the MCP and President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera’s reign, government officials travelled to South Africa saying many thought that the passports and other documentations, will be solved but till this day, nothing.
“People are still grappling for passports besides assurances that this will be resolved and no one knows when the challenges would come to an end at the Immigration Department,” said Kalindo.
On a sad note, Kalindo has joined students of Domasi Institute of Management who are crying for their college not recognized by NCHE and TEVETA describing this as a worrisome development claiming that over 400 students have been affected.
Kalindo has advised government to visit all fake colleges in Malawi and let students who are studying various programmes be advised that the institutions are not recognized by NCHE to avoid unnecessary spending by their parents and guardians for no impact.
