Funds derail national registration

Malawians will have to wait a little bit longer as government does not have money to finance the processing of national identity cards, five years after Parliament passed the National Registration Act.

Government established the National Registration Bureau (NRB) in 2003 using the Public Service Act and Parliament passed the National Registration Act in 2009.

NRB is mandated to implement, coordinate, manage and maintain the National Registration and Identification System (NRIS) process.

NRIS is the process of systematically registering births, children, adults, marriages and deaths with a view of fostering positive identification of citizens and resident foreigners in the country.

NRB spokesperson Norman Fulatira blamed failure to roll out the exercise on lack of funds.

“The implementation of the NRIS is being negatively affected by inadequate funding. Some aspects of the programme are being assisted by our development partners such as CDC [Centre for Disease Control], EU and Unicef. But these efforts are mainly in birth and death registration while the production of the IDs is waiting for funding from government,” said Fulatira.

Principal secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Newsby Kumwembe could not say whether the money meant for NRIS has been included in this year’s budget which will be tabled in September.

However, United Democratic Front (UDF) spokesperson Ken Ndanga said lack of registration certificates has impacted negatively on the country’s affairs.

He pointed out that reports about foreigners voting in the country’s elections will continue till registration certificates are introduced.

“Money should not be an issue. The project could have been implemented if the country was serious,” he said.

Malawi is the only country in the Sadc Region that does not have a national registration and identification system since independence in 1964.