many Malawians the opportunity to vote
By Rebecca Chimjeka & Isaac Salima:
Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Minister Jean Sendeza has ordered the National Registration Bureau (NRB) to de-register children that were given national identity (ID) cards.
She made the order when Machinga District Council Gender Officer Olive Msyamboza informed the minister during her tour of the district that a lot of children in the district are being deprived of essential services since most of them were forced to register as adults and have national ID cards.
“We are facing a lot of challenges, especially when it comes to registering children and providing essential services to them,” Msyamboza said.
Reacting to the development, Sendeza said it is a criminal offence to register children as adults.
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“We are going to discuss with NRB to clear all children that were given national identity cards.
“It is sad that children who were forced to register are being treated as adults, depriving them of education and healthcare services that are offered to children,” Sendeza said.
The minister said some parents registered children to avoid being caught up with early marriage laws.
Commenting on the matter, Paramount Chief Kawinga of Machinga said he has ordered all chiefs to be vigilant and to stop anyone who is going to register children during the registration period, which is about to start in the district.
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“No child should register during the registration exercise and, if found, the law should take its course,” Kawinga said.
There are fears that children could be forced to register in order to vote during the elections in 2025
Malawi adopted the National Registration Act in 2010 and enforced it in 2015, making it compulsory to register all births, deaths and marriages of adults older than 16 years of age.
The government, using funds from the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union, began biometric registration exercises in 2017. More than nine million adults – or about 90 percent of eligible adults – were registered.
The exercise was aimed at improving the delivery of services, governance and fostering economic and social inclusion. It is part of the Digital Malawi Project that sets out to link every citizen to a government database.
In another development, commentators have faulted the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec)’s announcement that only those with national ID cards will be allowed to vote in the 2025 tripartite elections.
Mec officials were last week quoted as saying this is in line with new electoral laws after Parliament passed them and the President assented to them.
On Monday, Mec spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa told Times Radio’s ‘Kulinji Programme’ that one needs to have a national ID to be allowed to register in the voter registration exercise.
However, Mwafulirwa urged people to keep expired or damaged national IDs safe as Mec will allow such people to register when the voter registration exercise starts.
However, some commentators are of the view that this is denying people their right to vote, considering challenges that NRB has been facing to print ID cards.
“According to the Republican Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, one is eligible to vote when he qualifies on few requirements. The main ones are that one has to be above 18 years and also be a citizen. If you do not have a national ID, it does not mean that you are not a citizen of this country.
“The problem I have with this new law is that it will deny many Malawians the opportunity to vote. We should also know that there are a lot of factors that prevent people from having national IDs such as problems that NRB faces,” said lawyer and social commentator James Ayuba James.
Lawyer Justin Dzonzi also faulted the arrangement, saying it is against provisions of the Republican Constitution.
Governance and political commentator Victor Chipofya also weighed in on the issue.
He said the country should first address issues surrounding challenges people face when they want to get national IDs.
“We are creating voter apathy because these requirements will demoralise people. People have to queue at NRB. They have to pay to get the ID and this is already demotivating,” he said.
People in the country have been facing delays to obtain their national IDs at NRB centres, a problem the Ministry of Homeland Security has promised to address.
NRB Principal Secretary Mphatso Somba said they have embarked on a national registration campaign and assured people that they are working on rectifying challenges they have been encountering.
