5 000 people to get national IDs
About 5 000 Malawians nationwide will get national identity cards (IDs) in the next few months as the National Registration Bureau (NRB) starts implementing the pilot phase of the programme.
There has been an outcry for national IDs as Malawi remains one of few countries without a system of identifying its citizens and it has fallen victim to citizenship fraud.
This development follows the progress report on public service reforms which Vice-President and chairperson of the Public Service Reform Commission SaulosChilima issued last week, indicating that the NRB had little results to show for during the reporting period.
The NRB was one of the institutions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, which proposed two reform areas, one of which was to identify a contractor to set up the National Registration Identification System (NRIS) and start registration and issuance of IDs.
The bureau has since set up the system but issuance of IDs is yet to begin.
According to an expression of interest issued this week, NRB is identifying a firm which will establish a data centre and software for the registration exercise.
“The first phase of the registration and issuance of IDs will cover up to 5 000 persons aged 16 and above from selected areas in each of Malawi’s three regions,” NRB spokesperson Norman Fulatira said.
The prospective firm would be expected to provide five biometric registration kits which would capture fingerprints, photos and signature, printers and supply 5 000 contact smart cards.
To speed up the process, Fulatira said the proposal was that while recruiting the contractor, NRB through United Nations Development Programme would procure basic equipment to establish a data centre in Lilongwe.
The equipment would arrive in the country mid next month so that by the time the contractor is identified, the issuance would begin.
To cover the whole country, NRB requires $25 million (about K14.75 billion) to issue national IDs.
Fulatira said the plan was to have a national ID with a chip, just to be in line with global technological advances and standards.
Meanwhile, government and donors are mobilising more financial resources for a national roll out exercise after the pilot phase, according to Fulatira.
