Malawi Cables
In an unexpected and highly contentious move, President Lazarus Chakwera’s government is caught up in a security breach after it awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to Madras Security Printers (MSP), a company that was blacklisted in India.
Cables online can reveal that the company was blacklisted in 2016 due to serious allegations of data breaches and corruption in India.
The contract, valued at $29.9 million, will see MSP print the country’s passports for the next five years.
However, this decision has raised concerns about the potential risks to national security, citizens’ personal data, and the integrity of Malawi’s passport system.
Questions are also being raised as to why Chakwera would give a contract to a company of such a background with only a few months to go before the September 16 polls.
In 2016, India’s government banned MSP after the company was linked to a massive national ID card scandal, where private citizen data was allegedly sold for profit.
But MSP’s controversial history does not end there. In other countries, including Kenya, South Sudan, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Mauritius, the company has faced accusations of fraud, bribery, and mismanagement in handling vital national projects.
Whether it’s being implicated in a counterfeit tax stamp scheme in Kenya or misappropriating funds in South Sudan, MSP’s track record paints a grim picture of incompetence and disregard for national security.
The decision to award MSP the passport printing contract is seen by many as a ploy to rig the September 16 elections.
