Kalembera

It is that time of the week when we get to be treated with an article. Well. Here is one.

I must point out that I didn't get much of positive feedback from the early bird article last week and that might have been due the the crowded and clouded mind that was behind. That was one article that was drafted on a Chinese made phone (not unlike many others) inside the emergency room of a referral hospital. I know Richie Online family is a bunch of forgiving humans. There is nothing worth beating me over, anyway.

Back to Friday the 21st July, in the year of Liberals, 2017....

We all might have heard the National Registration Bureau advert featuring Gospel Kazako calling you to go and process your National ID jibber jabber. I like the part where he says something to imply that we all need to be registered so that when they tell all Malawians to stand, we should be able to do so and wave out our national IDs. What a motivation for having a national ID!

To be honest, I am not sure of the necessity of the national IDs and I personally am not sure this exercising will have any positive impact on national development or planning or anything of the sort. I know I might be wrong because of the narrow view I have of the whole thing. I am told the idea behind registering citizens is for planning in allocation of resources and for controlling the access to social services or something in those lines. I would like to think that it's reasonable idea but at the same time I am baffled by the extent to which people think these national ID thing will work. Two reasons.

On the issue of planning and allocation of resources to Malawians, one would wonder how the presence of IDs would help in enhancing the allocation of the already insufficient resources. I once happened to be involved in a monitoring exercise for World Vision and the whole thing got me to chat with a Village Headman in some part of Mulanje. He told me of how he had given all the names of households in the village only for some computer based program to determine how many FISP coupons the village would get and which household would get them. Maybe this whole thing goes beyond FISP, but at the moment I cannot think of anything else which could will be improved by the IDs. I just don't see the "P4s" sitting in a board room and discussing of what direction the country would take having known the number of registered citizens in the country. On the other hand, I am not sure that there will be enough screening to make sure that the IDs are going to Malawian humans only. I am pretty sure that some will fall in the hands of Burundians (and probably some fellas from the surrounding countries when the registration hits the border districts). Pointless exercise, if you think along those lines.

On the issue of limiting the access of social services to Malawians and Malawians only, one would wonder as to how far and wide that will be applied. It would be easy to say someone who doesn't have an ID should not be allowed into Ndata University or Chirunga College. On the other hand, it is not that easy for a doctor who has vivid knowledge of ethics to turn back a patient who needs urgent help on the basis that he doesn't have a piece of paper called a Malawian national ID. Not sure which other service we would like to keep to ourselves. I need some enlightenment here (somebody educate me).

Anyway. Those are just the reservations of an ignoramus who is resistant to change. I will probably have a good view of the purpose of the whole registration exercise once people are done schooling me on the benefits of the same.

Talking about the exercise itself, it has not gone without some negative feedback. Relating to the point that some the IDs will land in the hands of foreign nationals, reports have it that some of the forms are being sold to foreigners. News also has it that there are some chiefs who are talking over the job of distributing the forms, ending up disturbing the flow of registration in the process. On the far end of the whole thing, some of you might have seen the viral pictures of people whose pictures couldn't successfully be taken by the NRB cameras. Zimenezo sitichedwapo.

The registration exercise has now hit the commercial capital and I have made some observations of my own the most important of which is that the general public has no clear idea of how this whole thing is working out. There are many who do n't know what to do and what is required of them and most have had to make two trips to the place with the first being for enquiries and the second for the completion of the exercise. Some go with the expectation that they will get their chiphaso upon completing the process and there are a lot more misconceptions about the whole thing. This might be a far fetched conclusion but I think people were not informed enough about this exercise.

On the distribution of the forms, there is some level of false strictness in the distribution. Apparently, they are not allowing anybody to collect two forms but looking at how the distribution work one can easily get a form and come back for another half and hour later without changing clothes, putting on a cap or shaving a beard.

Having not spent much time observing, I am wondering if there is a special consideration for those with disabilities. I am told that civil servants have a special privileges as they are served first. Probably good considering that there are some civil servants who do some actual important work as opposed to playing bawo all day.

I do hope that all of you are following the schedules of the registration and that when it's the turn of your village you will get to register. I don't see the point of the exercise, but I will run away from my patients at some point and get my ID processed. It might be important, after all... so....

Go, ye and register for a national ID.