Malawi: No More Expiry Limits On National Identity Cards

By Joseph Dumbula

The Malawi Government has ordered against the expiry of national Identity Cards.

According to Minister of Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, the call also comes with the scrapping of a payment for renewing the cards which are also used as mark of showing the state of being Malawian.

The order also includes a halt by the Malawi Police in demanding a police report fee for lost IDs until January 1st 2026.

This comes as Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is expected to start voter registration next year for the 2025 Presidential Elections.

Under new electoral laws, the national ID is the only ID that a person can use to register for elections.

In recent weeks, there have been concerns from various stakeholders that millions of Malawians whose IDs expired or got lost would not be able to register for the elections considering the costs attached to renew or replace IDs.

NRB said last week that it is implementing a campaign to renew or replace 4 million IDs.

Over nine million people have been registered in recent years through the campaign supported by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Government of Ireland, the Government of Norway, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UNDP.