Former Immigration Officer Accused over ‘Passport-Gate’, Court Grants Him Bail

Lilongwe magistrate court has granted a bail to former Chief Immigration officer Hudson Mankhwala who was arrested Wednesday over passports issued irregularly to foreigners.

Mankhwala was charged on two counts being, neglect of duty, contrary to section 121 of the penal code, and abuse of office which is contrary to section 25B of Corrupt Practices Act.

Mankhwala is not the only one involved in the issue as it is reported that ACB will also hunt Francisco Scova, an Immigration Officer who helped a citizen of Burundi with a Malawian passport.

Scova helped a Burundian with names as Alex Kelvin Chipeta who was later caught by German airport officials at Frankfurt.

Uladi Mussa, people`s party acting president is also marked for arrest on the same issue.

Several people from other countries in Africa travel as Malawians opting to study in west and destroy the travel documents upon reaching Europe. This has led the Malawian passport to be subject of strict scrutiny in some western countries.