The Mzuzu Youth Caucus has postponed its demonstrations that were planned for Thursday, March 7th, 2024 due to security concerns.
The postponement, according to a statement from the groping, follows the presence of the head of state in the north which has “created a political tension”.
“The presence of His Excellency the President, in the northern region has created a politically charged environment.
“Consequently, our gathering has the potential to provoke uncivilized and misguided political figures, leading to violence in their pursuit of political milestone, “reads part of the statement.
The demonstrations, whose objective was to demand the immediate resumption of the printing of passports and reduction of passport fees, will take place in the city next week Thursday.
In a statement on Monday, the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services said it was doing everything within to recover the passport issuance system which reportedly got hacked.
The Department hoped to recover the system before the expiry of President Lazarus Chakwera’s 21-day ultimatum.
There are seven days to go for the department’s leadership to fix the passport mess or face the chop in line with Chakwera’s earlier warning.
Meanwhile, the department discloses it has managed to recover the demographic/personal data which was also lost following the hacking of their system.
A month ago, it was reported that the Department of Immigration had been experiencing network problems, prompting it to halt the provision of some of its services.
The department later issued a statement in which it indicated that it had suspended its operations to pave the way for maintenance works on the system.
But it was emerged that the system was hacked and that the department has been engaging some information technology (IT) experts to restore it.
Speaking in Parliament, President Chakwera admitted that the system was hacked and that hackers were demanding money from Malawi government.
However, Chakwera vowed that as long as he is the president of this country, he will not allow the government to pay such an amount.
