Public Statement: Mass Registration of Malawian Citizens for National Identity Cards

Published: 25/Avr/2017
Source: National Registration Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Lilongwe

The National Registration Bureau (NRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security will be undertaking the first mass registration of Malawian citizens for issuance of National Identity Cards from June – December, 2017. All Malawian citizens must register. National ID cards will be issued to all Malawian citizens aged 16 years and above. For children under the age of 16, their parents or guardians must bring them to be registered as well. The mass registration will be carried out through a phased approach. Phases 1 & 2 will cover districts in the central region, phases 3 & 4 will cover districts in the southern region while phase 5 will cover all districts in the northern region of Malawi.

The mass registration is an opportunity for every Malawian to have their own national ID card. The national ID card will make it possible for the ID cardholder to show their eligibility for multiple purposes. For example, it can be used to acess free primary education, social services such as health care, and to meet financial requirements, such as getting a bank loan.

In each phase, up to 2000 registration teams will be deployed to register Malawian citizens in registration centres throughout the country. Most of the registration centres for national IDs will be at the same locations that were used by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) for the registration of voters. There will be continuous civic education campaign to guide Malawians through the process of registration.

In order to register for a national ID, Malawian citizens must provide proof of their citizenship. They can do this in 3 different ways. The first way to show proof is by presenting valid identification documents, such as a driver’s license, voter ID, birth certificate or other acceptable documents. If the citizen does not have valid ID documents, they can use the village register together with the testimony of the village head or local leaders. The third way to prove citizenship is by the testimony of 2 community witnesses. If identification documents are used, each type of identification is worth a certain degree of importance. The documents to be presented by a citizen will have to add up to 100%.

The table below presents the weights for most common identification documents in Malawi:

DOCUMENT WEIGHT IN %

DIPLOMATIC/SERVICE PASSPORT – 70%
ORDINARY PASSPORT- 40%
VOTER ID – 40%
DRIVING LICENCE – 30%
PAYSLIP – 30%
EMPLOYMENT ID – 10%
BIRTH CERTIFICATE – ISSUED BY DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRAR GENERAL – 30%
BIRTH CERTIFICATE – ISSUED BY NRB – 60%
CITIZESHIP OR NATURALIZED CERTIFICATE – 60%
MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE – 10%
OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS – 10%

The mass registration project is led by Malawi Government’s National Registration Bureau with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Government of Malawi is contributing 40% of the project cost and the remaining 60% is funded by the Department for Internal Development (DFID), European Union (EU), Irish Aid, the Government of Norway, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UNDP.

For any inquiries or clarification, please contact NRB Public Relations Officer on: 0999787718 or email: nfulatira@yahoo.com.

Original post on Facebook here.

Themes: Cartes d’identité et passeports
Regions: Malawi
Year: 2017