Queries persist in ID mop up registration

The National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust and some traditional leaders have faulted the National Registration Bureau (NRB) mop up registration campaign, saying it is marred with various challenges.

In separate interviews after The Nation checked registration progress in some centres on Tuesday, traditional leaders feared that their subject’s failure to register in the mop up campaign would deny them their rights to vote in next year’s general elections.

The chiefs include Traditional Authority (T/A) Chimaliro, T/A Chidothe, Sub-T/A Mangazi and group village head Nang’ombe of Thyolo and T/A Ngokwe of Machinga.

They said a majority of people who were expected to register failed due to limited days of registration coupled with lack of awareness.

T/A Chimaliro said that most of the registration centres were marred with challenges such as persistent machine stoppages and shortage of registration forms, among others.

He said: “Majority of people who were expected to register have not registered because they [NRB] have closed the registration.

“They should have extended the registration exercise to allow all the people of 16 years and above to register. They are also Malawians and they need this ID.”

On his part, T/A Chidothe faulted both NRB and Thyolo District Council for failing to raise public awareness.

He noted that most chiefs were sidelined during the mop up exercise, a development that affected them to reach out to their subjects.

Said the chief: “The exercise came secretly without even notifying us chiefs. So some people were not aware of the exercise until Monday, which was the last day.”

T/A Ngokwe asked NRB to treat the mop up registration queries as a matter of urgency, saying it is Malawians’ right to have national ID.

In a separate interview, Nice Trust national programmes officer Christopher Naphiyo echoed the chiefs’ concerns, saying his organisation has also received queries concerning the mop up campaign.

He said the concerns include shortage of registration forms and staff that contributes to some eligible Malawians’ failure to register.

Said Naphiyo: “In some places, officers could only handle about 100 and in other places it is even less than that.

“In other places we have also heard about the shortage of registration forms. So, we need a serious national dialogue on this issue considering its importance, especially the linkage to the elections.”

Commenting on the issue, Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) director of media and public relations Sangwani Mwafulirwa said the electoral body has always come out clearly on registration, stating that no person will be allowed to register for the next year’s general election without a national ID.

But in a written response, NRB spokesperson Norman Fulatira said the mop up registration campaign is a nine-phased exercise and urged people who have failed to register in their respective centres to rush to the nearest centres to register.

He said NRB’s plan is to ensure that all the registered citizens receive their national ID cards by the end of August this year.

The challenges come about three weeks after NRB asked Malawians to calm down saying every eligible voter, including the 2.2 million potential new voters, will have their national ID cards ahead of voter registration.

Among others, the mop up campaign is targeting people who were left out during the national ID outreach registration exercise that ended in May this year and all foreigners with valid Immigration documents.

As of May 31 2021, cumulatively, about 12 million people had registered for national ID, of which, about 1.6 million were new registrants.