Chairperson for Mchinji District Disability Forum, Florence Mbekeyani, has called on all eligible persons with disabilities who were not registered in the just-ended national ID outreach registration exercise to make sure that they are registered in the current mop-up registration exercise.
The National Registration Bureau (NRB) is currently conducting the mop-up exercise across the country`s districts, including Mchinji.
Speaking in an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Wednesday, Mbekeyani described the registration exercise as a great opportunity because it has now been taken closer to communities where people with disabilities stay.
“I am advising parents and well-wishers to accompany the persons with disabilities to utilize the opportunity at their nearest registration centers to register. The registration is a prerequisite for them to have a Malawi National ID that would help them be considered in social protection programs like social cash transfer and also enable them to vote for the leaders of their choice,” Mbekeyani said.
She commended the government and NRB for establishing more additional centres in the ongoing registration exercise saying it would help people with disabilities access the registration services easier than was the case in the previous exercise.
In a press statement, NRB principal secretary Mphatso Sambo said during the mop-up registration exercise, the bureau will also be distributing National IDs to all citizens who registered during the national outreach registration exercise, as well as to those who registered previously but have not yet received their cards.
Mchinji district had 40 registration centres during its national outreach registration exercise, while in the mop-up registration exercise to be conducted in nine phases, NRB will cover 140 centres across the district.
