MEC, NRB sign deal on voters’ IDs
Malawi Electoral Commission and the National Registration Bureau (NRB) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to create a framework of cooperation between the two institutions ahead of the 2025 Tripartite Elections.
Under the current law, national IDs are the only legitimate form of identification for a prospective voter who wants to register.
The MoU, therefore, seeks to ensure that both institutions mutually cooperate in the fulfilment of their respective mandates in implementing the operational aspects of the voters’ registration and their identification on polling day, among others.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Lilongwe, MEC chairperson Chifundo Kachale said they are planning ahead to ensure that as the commission launches the voters register in September next year, all the people in the targeted areas have the relevant registration documentation to register as voters.
He said: “As we gather today, the clock is fast-ticking towards 16 September 2025 when the nation will, once again, hold a general election. It is the aspiration of the Malawi Electoral Commission, and all electoral stakeholders, that the elections should be a big success and one fundamental principle of holding a credible election is to get it right with the voters’ register.
“You cannot have a credible election if the voters register is excluding a lot of people who are eligible purely on grounds of technicalities or your own incapacity.”
Minister of Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, who signed the MoU on behalf of NRB, reiterated his commitment, saying he will personally see to it that service delivery at NRB is restored within the shortest time possible.
“What I mean is that, if NRB says it takes 30 days to issue a national ID card, it must be 30 days and nothing more.
“I have also directed NRB to implement the national ID outreach registration exercise fairly, efficiently, and without bias. Let every Malawian citizen of 16 years and above register during this exercise,” he said.
On issues of delayed printing, Ng’oma assured that NRB will ensure that the offshore printing process and the procurement of additional 20 new printers is finalised within the shortest time possible.
“I am, therefore, confident that going forward, NRB will better serve Malawian citizens and all stakeholders, including MEC,” he said.
Zikhale further said with the $4 million (about K4 billion) in forex secured from the Reserve Bank of Malawi last week, the challenge of delay in processing the IDs, which NRB faced due to shortage of forex, has been resolved as the supplier has been paid.
Political commentator Humprey Mvula yesterday described the issue of national IDs in elections as sensitive and needs to be handled carefully.
He said: “This is one of the issues that President Lazarus Chakwera must show that he is serious about getting certain things resolved.
“It is a crisis [to have ID printing delays] and the nation must have answers as to why there are those delays.”
On trusting Ng’oma’s promises, Mvula emphasised that what the nation needs is delivery, adding that the issue has been long-outstanding and needs an urgent solution.
