From the look of things, the National Registration Bureau (NRB) seems to be in trouble.
Earlier this month, some of the interns at the bureau issued an ultimatum.
‘Give us our wages’
In their letter—which was addressed to NRB management, Homeland Security Minister Ken Zikhale Ng’oma as well as the Malawi Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Labour and United Nations Development Programme officials—the interns gave the authorities 72 hours to address issues that were disturbing their peace.
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These issues, according to the letter, included unpaid dues and the need to effect a field allowance increment.
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The letter indicates that the interns have been getting a field allowance of K70,000 per month.
They want it raised to K280,000 weekly.
“As you are aware, [and] according to article 10,10.2 of the contract, the K70,000 you are giving us as field allowance per month is K2,333 per day. And according to article 10, 10.1 of the contract, with [the] fixed K80,000 internship stipend per month totalling to K150,000 per month, we wish to let you know that this is too minimal for survival. K2,333 per day is not even enough for breakfast, lunch and dinner plus other expenses for bathing and clothing in order [for us] to look clean and presentable,” the interns charge in the letter.
They also alluded to the issue of unpaid dues, which, according to them, date back to the 2023-24 financial year.
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The interns’ number is estimated at 1,000 and their work involves registering clients and renewing expired identity (ID) cards, among other roles.
It turns out that there are some human resources issues at NRB.
Operation register citizens
This is happening at a time the bureau has been registering citizens and facilitating the replacement of lost national ID cards.
On Friday, July 12 this year, bureau officials indicated that they had embraced the Short Message Service (SMS) as a tool for sensitising the citizenry to the importance of registering for an ID.
It is hoped that SMSs would give the ID holder the leeway to follow processes related to national ID cards.
NRB Principal Secretary Mphatso Sambo told journalists that the bureau was leaving nothing to chance in its bid to ensure that it reaches out to all people with services.
“We know that some people are not aware of the [citizen] identification process. We are, therefore, ensuring that we are operating at all levels, including at traditional authority one, because we want to reach out to as many people as possible,” Sambo pointed out.
At that Friday meeting, NRB Chief Registration Officer Rhodric Langwe is on record to have said registration is key to national development, such that it has to be done in real time.
That way, he indicated, NRB would be put in a better position to provide up-to-date data.
So far, 12 million-plus people have been registered and issued with a unique ID number.
This has happened in the past seven years, after the Malawi citizens registration exercise started in 2017, when NRB rolled out a mass registration exercise.
Although registration work started in earnest seven years ago, the ground was paved years before.
“Until 8th January 2010, there was no law in Malawi compelling citizens, especially indigenous Malawians, of all ages to register with a government,” reads a post on NRB’s website.
That means the groundwork started as early as 2010.
Voter registration versus citizens’ registration
Perhaps what has made the issue of national ID registration hot are elections that are on the horizon.
On September 16 2025, eligible voters would queue to vote for Local Government, Parliamentary and Presidential Elections candidates.
Next year’s elections will be the first ones to have possession of a national ID as a condition for voting.
The other condition is, of course, attainment of the right age; that is, 18 years.
In May 2019, when eligible Malawians went to the polls to elect ward councillors, parliamentarians and president, they did not need a national ID.
If anything, possession of a national ID was a prerequisite for enrollment in public programmes, notably Farm Input Subsidy Programme and other social programmes.
And, now that the ID has become one of the conditions for voting, some stakeholders, notably political parties, have, all of a sudden, developed cold feet.
To douse such fears, NRB has been implementing programmes, including the National ID Mop UP Registration campaign.
The exercise is aimed at registering citizens who were left out during the National ID Outreach Registration exercise.
NRB officials also seek to register all resident foreigners who have valid documents; that is, documents issued by the Department of Immigration.
The exercise is ongoing.
During the National ID Outreach exercise, NRB managed to beat its target of registering 1.5 million people.
The exercise commenced on June 10 2024 and will be implemented up to August 2024, according to the tentative schedule.
“The exercise has been divided into nine phases within each district. Implementation is simultaneous in all the districts across the country. The exercise will reach out to all the centres (5,002) that NRB used during the 2017 National ID Mass Registration Campaign.
“Registration will be done for 10 days at each centre before moving to the next phase. NRB has recruited over 1,000 temporary staff for the exercise. ICT teams will be placed in each and every district for troubleshooting purposes,” Sambo indicated in June this year.
Of course, this did not go without comment, with Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation Executive Director Michael Kaiyatsa saying NRB should refrain from registering minors.
“There are so many bad stories going around concerning ID registration. We need sanity and the observance of human rights and the rule of law,” Kaiyatsa said.
Laying groundwork for elections
This week, Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) Chairperson Judge Annabel Mtalimanja indicated that next year’s elections will be launched in Lilongwe on August 2 2024.
She indicated that the theme for the elections is ‘Promoting Democratic Leadership through Your Vote’.
“This theme is a powerful reminder to all Malawians of the foundational role that voting plays in a democracy. As it is often emphasised, voting is not only a right but also civic duty that both empowers and obligates citizens to influence the direction of their country,” Mtalimanja said.
She added that there would be fresh registration of voters for the 2025 elections because of re-demarcation of constituencies and wards that the commission conducted after Parliament endorsed the move.
As a result of the review of constituency and ward boundaries, starting from the 2025 elections, the country will have 229 constituencies, up from 193, and 509 wards—up from 462—which means that there will be over 1,000 new centres that will need to be populated with voters.
Mtalimanja then touched on the issue of national ID.
“In accordance with Section 12 of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act, a person who is eligible to be registered as a voter in an election shall, as proof of eligibility, present in person to a registration officer proof of his or her national registration issued by the National Registration Bureau. In terms of the National Registration Act, this is the National ID,” Mtalimanja said.
She, therefore, proceeded to state that Mec would not register those without national IDs but that those with expired national IDs would be registered.
Divergent views
However, divergent views have emerged on the issue, with the opposition Democratic Progressive Party objecting to that position.
“The Constitution gives every Malawian the right to register and vote. Introducing that condition means restricting that right. This is against provisions of the Republican Constitution.
“Already, NRB is failing to register Malawians who are qualified. As such, this bureau, which is incapacitated, should not be a yardstick for one’s eligibility to register and vote in elections,” party secretary general Clement Mwale said.
On its part, Alliance for Democracy has indicated that it is consulting on the issue.
The governing Malawi Congress Party, on the other hand, has indicated that it has no problem with the issue.
“We, as a party, have no issues with the current arrangement as it aligns with our electoral laws. It is important for the National Registration Bureau to ensure that all eligible citizens are registered throughout Malawi,” said party spokesperson Ezekiel Ching’oma.
As election day approaches, other views will, surely, emerge— making the September 16 2025 elections NRB’s real litmus test.
