NRB delays mass registration in wards

National Registration Bureau (NRB) has delayed the start of mass national identity (ID) card registration and renewal processes in wards which were expected to start today.

In an interview yesterday, NRB spokesperson Norman Fulatila said the delay was due to delays in the recruitment of 200 interns to beef up registration staff.

He said the recruitment of the interns ended on Sunday and they are expected to undergo an orientation today before the mass registration exercise begins in all 460 wards in 193 constituencies nationwide.

Said Fulatila: “There will be a delay because the recruitment process just ended today [Sunday]. We are discussing other logistics, but we are optimistic that we will not delay too much.”

Last week, NRB deputy director Moses Chiwoni indicated that the bureau would start the national ID registration and renewal exercise in Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzimba on May 26 2021.

But a spot-check in the four districts yesterday revealed that while the exercise had started in a few wards, some were yet to start.

Chiwoni said NRB failed to start the registration exercise in all the wards due to a shortage of staff as the bureau had not finalised the interns recruitment process.

He said: “We started the excercise with our own staff because we were still working on the recruitment of interns. We had a lot of pressure, so that’s why we proceeded with our staff.”

According to Chiwoni, three million national IDs are expected to expire this year.

On May 10 this year, Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda said his ministry engaged Ministry of Finance to release funds for the recruitment of 200 interns to beef up NRB staff to take the service close to the people.

He said NRB had 2 000 registration kits ready for the exercise, but the only challenge was manpower to decongest NRB district offices.