United Transformation Movement (UTM) Secretary General Patricia Kaliati has urged the National Registration Bureau (NRB) to scrap the K2 500 fee for national ID replacement or renewal.

Kaliati was speaking in Dowa at an electoral laws consultative meeting which drew together commissioners from the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), officials from NRB and political party representatives through the Centre for Multiparty Democracy.

According to the new Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Act, registration for the 2025 general election slated to commence on September 2024 will only be based on national Ids.

She said: “Considering the economic challenges that the country is facing, it is obvious that a lot of Malawians, especially those that lost their ID cards in the Cyclone Freddy disaster will not manage to replace them due to the fees attached. This means a lot of people will not be able to vote.”

Kaliati further called on the NRB to work on their inefficiencies and intensify civic education for more people to register for the national ID, failing which, it will be deemed as an attempt to rig the election.

In his response, NRB Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Homeland Security Mphatso Sambo said discussions are ongoing to remove the national ID replacement fees as well as the police report requirement.

Source:NPL