LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The National Registration Bureau (NRB) has registered over 1.5 million new registrants by the end of Phase 8.
Ministry of Homeland responsible for NRB Principal Secretary, Mphatso Sambo told the news conference on Tuesday, June 4, 2024 in the capital Lilongwe that despite surpassing the target there are still a large number of Malawians who have turned the age of 16 not yet registered.
He said, “NRB is also aware that there are still a significant number of citizens who want to replace their National IDs due to loss, damage, or expiry of the cards.
“In terms of expiry date of National ID cards, let me remind Malawians that the it remains suspended until January 1, 2026 as pronounced by the Minister of Homeland Security, Keneth Zikhale Ngoma in Parliament mid last year.”
He added inspite of the pronouncement, over 830,000 citizens replaced their cards during the National ID Outreach Registration exercise.
NRB noticed that through the outreach registration they did not indicate statistics for replacements because the figures were already in the system by the time of registration.
It is estimated that about two million National ID cards will be distributed between now and August this year.
But the exact number will be determined after all the cards have been scanned using the Document Tracker Software very shortly.
He therefore notified the general public that the bureau will start issuing marriage certificate which will have unique features that will not be tampered.
NRB is mandated to implement, coordinate, manage and maintain the National Registration and Identification System (NRIS) in Malawi by registering every birth, death, and citizen of 16 years and above, for the issuance of certificates and identity cards in Malawi.