NRB rolls out phase 7mass ID registration

The National Registration Bureau (NRB) pn Monday started implementing phase seven of the national identity (ID) outreach and community death registration exercise across the country.

NRB Principal Secretary (NRB) Mphatso Sambo said in a statement issued recently that the exercise will run for 15 days from April 15 to 29 2024  in Blantyre and Lilongwe Rural and Rumphi district.

The statement reads in part: “This exercise is aimed at offering an opportunity to citizens who have just turned 16 years to register for their first ID card. The exercise will also give a chance for ID card replacement to those who lost or damaged their cards.

“On the other hand, the community death registration exercise intends to register all deaths that occurred from 2017 to date.”

NRB further reminded the public that government has also suspended the expiry of national IDs until January 1 2026.

“The suspension means that all ID cards with an expiry date are still valid until January 1 2026. However, all ID cards issued by NRB at the moment will still have an expiry date,” further reads the statement.

Two weeks ago, Minister of Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma commissioned a high-performance national ID card printer donated to NRB by the United States (US) government through the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Ng’oma also expressed optimism that NRB now has sufficient capacity to meet the ID demand as the printer is expected to improve the bureau’s ID service delivery.

He said: “The commissioning of the printer is not only a game-changer, but will also save government resources.

“Malawi is grateful to the US Embassy, who, through the [CDC], rendered this support to NRB.”

In a separate interview, Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba said the new ID printer will enable NRB to maximise service delivery by doubling the printing rate.

“The printer has the capacity to produce 3 500 cards per day, unlike the current machine which produces about 200 cards a day. This will reduce waiting time,” she said.