Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has lobbied legislators to push for a constitutional amendment to change the requirement that only national identity (ID) cardholders will be eligible to register as voters.
DPP’s call comes against the background of Section 4 ( 12 ) of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Act which states that a person who is eligible to be registered as a voter in an election shall, as proof of eligibility, present in person to a registration officer, proof of his or her national registration issued by National Registration Bureau (NRB).
Speaking in an interview yesterday after holding a rally in Chiradzulu on Sunday, DPP secretary general Clement Mwale cited the persistent challenges in the national ID mop-up registration campaign underway in some districts as having the potential to affect the 2025 General Elections outcome and registration of voters in general.
He said the situation makes a strong case for members of Parliament (MPs) to change the law to allow other identification types besides the national ID.
Said Mwale: “We have to tell our MPs to go to Parliament and change the Constitution. The national ID should not be the only identification document for one to register as a voter.
“People should be able to use a driving licence or letters from traditional leaders. These three items [including the national ID] should allow a person to go to register and vote.”
The DPP position comes a week after National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust and some traditional leaders faulted NRB mop-up registration campaign, saying it is marred with various challenges.
Mwale claimed that mop-up registration campaign glitches have only affected the Southern Region, believed to be DPP’s stronghold, saying it was a deliberate move to disenfranchise voters from the region in next year’s general elections.
“The equipment that are being sent to the Southern Region, some of them are broken down and they are only registering maybe only 50 people per day, yet the equipment that have been sent to Central Region are working perfectly,” he said.
Malawi Law Society (MLS) is also on record as having said that while Section 77 of the Constitution gives all persons a right to vote in any general election, any impediment to the actualisation of this right goes against the tenets of liberal democracy.
In its communiqué co-signed by president Pa t r i ck Mpaka and honorary secretary Gabriel Chembezi, MLS said the amendment restricting use of the national ID as the sole form of identification appeared to tie the hands of Malawi Electora l Commission (MEC) to register only those with a valid national ID.
But MEC director of media and public relations Sangwani Mwafulirwa is on record as having said that no person will be allowed to register for the September 16 2025 General Election without a national ID, unless the law is reviewed.
In the face of the c r i t i c i sm o n t h e challenges rocking the mop up exercise, NRB has often called for calm and assured that every eligible voter, including the 2.2 million potential new voters, will have their national ID cards ahead of voter registration.
In an earlier written response to a questionnaire, NRB spokesperson Norman Fulatira said the bureau has registered 11.8 million eligible Malawians aged 16 and above. The eligible voting age is 18 and above.
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