80,000 withheld IDs to be distributed

The National Registration Bureau (NRB) has finished verifying 80,000 identity cards which were withheld due to anomalies.

According to Dowa District Council’s Assistant District Registration Officer Malla Zimba, she has received communication from NRB that all the withheld identity cards for the district will be in her office next month.

Zimba said the communication has even gone to the Traditional Authorities of the district so that their subjects must be aware of the development, hence, a need to wait with hope that by Mid-February, 2018, the distribution exercise will be conducted in the district.

The withholding of the 80,000 IDs was received with mixed reactions with some residents alleging that Dowa is a try and error district in all the national exercises be it in food distribution, subsidy coupons and the IDs while some alleged that it was a plot to rig the 2019 elections in the district.

Speaking in an interview with Malawi24, Zimba dismissed fears that the 80,000 withheld national identity cards got missing in the district saying the IDs had some anomalies which needed the NRB to verify before distribution.

Zimba expressed optimism that all the withheld 80,000 IDs will be in the district and people will be informed on the dates and places of where to receive their IDs.

According to Zimba, the NRB withheld the 80,000 IDs for the district citing reasons such as people registering in centres far away from their designated centres, wrong information on the forms among others.

He denied claims that NRB suspected that refugees and asylum seekers at the Dzaleka camp had taken advantage of registering as Malawians.

Zimba has since called on people who are yet to register to go to the council to register.

Dowa district was in the first phase of the national registration exercise along with districts such as Nkhotakota, Kasungu and Mchinji.