Nice cautions religious leaders on mass registration
National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust has advised religious leaders in Chiradzulu to encourage their followers to register in the ongoing mass national identity (ID) card registration programme.
The call follows reports that some clerics in the district are dissuading people from registering, saying the exercise is one of the signs of the end times as prophesied in the Bible.
Speaking at Chiperere Primary School in Traditional Authority (T/A) Ntchema in the district on Sunday, Nice Chiradzulu district civic education officer Boniface Phiri advised people to disregard such advice and register in large numbers.
“We are condemning all those reports linking the exercise to the signs of the end of the times. The exercise is meant for bona fide Malawian citizens,” he said.
In his remarks, National Registration Bureau logistics officer Lawrence Matsoka hailed the progress the exercise is making despite the challenges being faced.
“The exercise is new and people are starting to adopt it. Our centres are having large numbers of residents despite some individuals who still do not understand the importance of registering,” he said.
