The National Registration Bureau (NRB) has missed targets under the first phase of national identify (ID) cards outreach registration exercise.
The National ID outreach registration exercise is an initiative aimed at reaching out to citizens who stay far away from NRB registration points, especially in rural communities.
NRB Principal Secretary Mphatso Sambo said, in the first phase, they have managed to register only 32 percent of the new targeted registrants and only six percent of those seeking replacements.
He said statistics that NRB captured, as of Tuesday, indicate that, out of the 232,472 new registrants targeted, 75,001 have been recorded while 26,576 replacements have been captured out of the estimated 474,947 replacements.
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“However, it must be noted that synchronisation of some data from the first phase will be known by the end of this week, when the synchronisation process is expected.
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“NRB will commence phase 2 of the National ID outreach registration exercise in this month of August 2023 for 15 days in the four districts of Karonga in the North, Salima in the Centre, Machinga in the East and Thyolo in the South,” Sambo said.
Meanwhile, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation Executive Director Michael Kaiyatsa has described the development as unfortunate, particularly as the country is moving closer to the 2025 elections.
“Failure to reach the target may result in some people being denied the right to vote as the current electoral law requires that every eligible voters must be registered with the NRB to vote,” Kaiyatsa said.
In a related development, NRB has said preliminary activities such as deployment of equipment and awareness activities will start on August 16 2023.
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As for the subsequent phases, NRB will soon be announcing the districts and exact commencement dates.
In July this year, the government gave NRB $4 million (about K4 billion) for the procurement of supplies such as printers, which are needed ahead of the 2025 general elections.
Homeland Security Minister Ken Zikhale Ng’oma indicated, on the sidelines of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) and NRB, that the money would go a long way in ensuring that eligible voters are issued with national IDs..
The MoU is meant to facilitate cooperation in the delivery of their services as the current electoral law requires that every eligible voter must be registered with the NRB to vote.
“The government has given $4 million to buy supplies and everything we need in preparation for the 2025 general elections,” Zikhale Ng’oma said.
He added that people should not despair because the government wants the country to conduct free, fair and credible elections, hence the agreement between the two sides.
The minister said the government would make sure that every eligible person casts his or her vote to exercise their right of voting.
Mec Chairperson Judge Chifundo Kachale said the MoU is important as the current law requires everyone to register with NRB before registering with Mec.
“As we gather today, the clock is fast ticking towards September 16 2025, when the nation will, once again, hold a general election. It is the aspiration of the Malawi Electoral Commission, and I believe all electoral stakeholders, that the 2025 tripartite elections should be a big success,” Kachale said.
He added that “it is an undeniable fact” that challenges, some of them unforeseen, would always emerge in an election because each election brings its own unique challenges.
Kachale, however, said if there would be a proper plan and preparation, such challenges could be deterred.
“As you might all know, one fundamental principle of holding a credible election is to get it right with the voters’ register. For 2019 and 2020 elections, we had the best voter register ever because we successfully migrated to a biometric voter registration system,” he said.
Kachale said the success of voter registration for the 2019 elections could, in a big way, be attributed to the working partnership that exists between Mec and NRB.
The event was witnessed by, among others, Mec Chief Elections Officer Andrew Mpesi, Mec commissioners and Homeland Security Principal Secretary Oliver Kumbambe.
Malawi is expected to go to the polls on September 16 2025 after holding the presidential election in 2020.
