Over 1.5 Million Malawians Registered in National Outreach Program

NRB registers every birth, death, and citizens who have turned 16 years and above for issuance of certificates: birth certificates, death certificates, and national IDs.

LILONGWE, Malawi— The National Registration Bureau (NRB) has successfully completed its National Outreach Registration, registering over 1.5 million Malawians across eight phases conducted nationwide, writes Martin Kamlaike.

Mphatso Sambo, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Homeland Security responsible for NRB, revealed this milestone at a press briefing held Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Lilongwe.

The bureau used the event to update Malawians on its registration processes.

In his statement, Sambo said the bureau reached out to 1,250 centers in all 28 districts during the exercise, excluding the ongoing national registration process that continuously occurs at district council offices.

When questioned about complaints from Malawians regarding the long wait times for card dispatch, Sambo acknowledged the problem.

However, he said the bureau has procured heavy-duty printers that can produce 15,000 cards per day, which will rectify the issue.

"The challenges were there, but right now we have gotten solutions for almost all of them," Sambo said. "One was delayed printing, and this has been solved by procurement of additional printers, some of which are heavy duty. We are working in double shifts, and the backlog has been printed offshore. We expect all these cards to be distributed to all Malawians in the next few weeks."

Despite achieving more than a 100% registration target during the outreach campaign, Sambo said the bureau faced several challenges. These included delayed payments for logistics, lack of electricity in hard-to-reach areas, faulty machines, and external interferences that slowed the registration process.

However, Sambo announced that the bureau will launch a new "mop-up" registration campaign from June 10, 2024, to August 2024.

This initiative aims to reach 5,002 centers countrywide, targeting Malawians who missed out during the concluded national outreach registration program.

"We are coming up with another registration campaign, calling it a 'mop-up' registration campaign," he said.

"This campaign will go back to the districts and through each center to give every Malawian who didn't have an opportunity to be registered during the national outreach registration a chance. We believe by the end of the campaign, every Malawian will have been given a chance to be registered."

Sambo also refuted claims that the bureau is registering underage children, which some critics suggested might influence next year's general elections.

He acknowledged receiving such complaints but said investigations revealed that those purported young people were actually 16 years old—the requirement for national identity registration—and were paid K20,000 to claim they were kids.

Additionally, Sambo revealed that the bureau has developed a document tracker software and biometric verification system to safeguard its data and track the cards' locations.

The National Registration Bureau is mandated to implement, coordinate, manage, and maintain the national registration under the registration system in Malawi.

NRB registers every birth, death, and citizens who have turned 16 years and above for issuance of certificates: birth certificates, death certificates, and national IDs.

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