Rev. Baxton Maulidi
* National Registration Bureau and the Malawi Electoral Commission should be fair and transparent
* By among others, giving all Malawians an equal opportunity to register their national IDs
By Duncan Mlanjira
Reverend Baxton Maulidi of Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Blantyre Synod — who is anti-corruption ambassador in Malawi of the All-African Conference of Churches (AACC) — is urging the electoral stakeholders to devise accountability systems that will help the country hold credible and transparent elections in September next year.
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Rev. Maulidi emphasised that the electoral players, including the National Registration Bureau (NRB) and the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), should be fair and transparent, by among others, giving all Malawians an equal opportunity to register their national IDs.
He was commenting on the ID outreach registration exercise currently underway after some local leaders and new registrants raised concerns that inadequate staff and long distances to the outreach centres and district offices restrain them from accessing the IDs.
Frequent asked questions on the national ID include the clause on expiry date, questioning that if it expires, does that mean one is no longer a citizen of Malawi? — and Rev. Maulidi’s emphasis that the NRB and MEC should give all Malawians an equal opportunity to register their national IDs.
The National ID
He is also following up on what President Lazarus Chakwera presented on national ID in Parliament last month in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) when he announced the suspension of the expiry of national ID between August 2023 and January 2026.
This is meant to increase accessibility and inclusivity to socio-economic services and also embarking on a mass outreach registrations in all districts.
The current total of registration stands at over 11 million and as of January, the NRB increased printing capacity to 11,000 ID cards per day — a rise from less than 1,000 per day in 2023.
The current registration exercise, according to the NRB, indicates that over 755,000 new ID registrants have now registered in five phases of the exercise covering 23 districts, and the sixth phase is underway in Dedza, Mzimba North, Mchinji, and Chikwawa.
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In response to the the question whether one ceases to be a Malawian once the national ID expires, NRB explained that the citizenship does not expire, it is just the National ID that expires and has to be renewed.
“Therefore, even though your ID has expired, you are still a citizen of Malawi,” says NRB on Malawi Government website. “However, you need to renew the national ID in order for it to be acceptable as a means of identification.
“According to the National registration act, a person registers for their first national ID at the age of 16. The ID expires after every 10 years, so this means that the ID will be renewed when the citizen is 26, 36, 46 and so on.
Thus Rev. Maulidi, who is also in the All Africa Council of Churches’ general committee as alternate member, asks the authorities to intensify civic education on this thorny issue especially ahead of the 2025 General Elections.
Rev. Maulidi, who is Deputy General Secretary of CCAP Blantyre Synod, was elected in the AACC in November last year in Abuja, Nigeria — alongside fellow Blantyre Synod member, General Secretary Emeritus in the general committee.
Malawi belongs to the Southern African Region of the AACC and at the general assembly in Abuja, the presidency went to Rt. Rev. Lydia Neshangwe of Zimbabwe.
The AACC general assembly is a high-level platform for Church leaders as they meet to reflect on the Church’s work in the continent, which is attended by heads of denominations, youth, women and AACC partners.
The general assembly in Abuja discussed, among other things, multiple crises that humanity is facing, that include drought in the Horn of Africa, floods in Malawi, war in Ukraine, increased food prices, rising poverty, and inequality.
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