By George Mponda

Karonga, June 20, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) District Elections Officer for Karonga, Elias Nyirenda has urged eligible citizens to turn up for national identity mop up registration and distribution of cards' exercise which is currently underway in the district.

In an interview Wednesday, he said that during MEC's engagement meetings with Multiparty Liason Committees, political party representatives in all districts complained that most potential voters do not have national identification cards.

"The National Registration Bureau (NRB) is conducting a mop up exercise and the new electoral laws stipulate that only those with proof of registration from NRB will be registred to vote in the 2025 general election, so potential voters should utilize this opportunity for them to have cards,” Nyirenda said.

He called on traditional, religious and political leaders among others to help in raising awareness on the importance of the exercise which was also being conducted in MEC's registration centres.

Principal Registration Officer for NRB for Karonga, Chikondi Mtunga pledged that they intend to conduct the exercise in all areas in the district.

He added that the exercise was a follow up to the successfull completion of the national identity cards outreach registration exercise which was concluded in May 2024.

“We will do this in nine phases at 131 old MEC registration centres in Karonga while aiming at registering all eligible citizens who did not participate during the just concluded exercise including those who have just turned 16 years.

We want to make sure that we cover all areas including those which are hard to reach with this important exercise and we are using generators in centres where there is no electricity," Mtunga pointed out.