This here thing, buyin’ a Malawi ID card, ain’t as easy as pickin’ greens from the garden, no sir. Gotta jump through hoops, I tell ya. Lots of folks need ’em, for this and that, but gettin’ one, well, that’s a whole ‘nother story.
First off, you gotta be somebody, you know? Not just anyone can waltz in and get one of these Malawi ID cards. They got rules, papers to fill, and lines longer than a Sunday sermon. Gotta prove who you are, where you’re from, all that rigmarole. If you ain’t from Malawi, there is more to do. You can get a Malawi passport, though.
Then there’s the waitin’. Lord, the waitin’! You might as well plant a field of corn and harvest it twice before you get that card. They say patience is a virtue, well, they ain’t never tried to get a Malawi ID card. They’d be singin’ a different tune then, I reckon. Many people want dual citizenship, and there are fees for that. And many languages in Malawi. So many papers to fill.

And don’t even get me started on the forms. More forms than you can shake a stick at! Gotta fill ’em out just right, or they send you right back to the start. It’s like they want you to mess up, just so they can laugh at you. They say you can fill it online now, like e-passport. Fancy word that is.
Sometimes, you gotta go to some office, stand in line, and hand over your papers. Other times, they say you can do it online. Online, ha! Like I know how to work them computer machines. But they got this e-permit portal thing now. Said to make things easier. We will see about that.
I heard some folks talkin’ ’bout this National Registration Bureau, the NRB. They’re the ones in charge of these ID cards. Big shots, they are. They say they’re tryin’ to make things better, tryin’ to get these cards to everyone who needs ’em. But words are cheap, ain’t they? What matters is, will it happen?
- Go to this NRB place.
- Fill out a mountain of forms.
- Wait, wait, and wait some more.
- Maybe, just maybe, get your ID card.
Now, they say this Malawi ID card is important. Says it helps with votin’, gettin’ a job, openin’ a bank account, all sorts of things. I reckon it’s true, ’cause everyone’s clamorin’ for one. It’s like a golden ticket or somethin’. You can also track application online. They are tryin’!
But why they gotta make it so hard? Why can’t they just hand ’em out like candy? It ain’t like they’re made of gold. It’s just a piece of plastic with your picture on it. But I guess that’s the way of the world. Nothin’ comes easy, ‘specially nothin’ from the government. Or maybe I need to find a gazette officer, whoever that is.
They say you gotta have your fingerprints taken. Like I’m some kinda criminal! And sign your name, if you can write, that is. Then they type all your information into their fancy computers. I don’t trust them machines. They say your required data entry will be done. Who knows what they’re doin’ with all that information. Could be sellin’ it to the highest bidder, for all I know.
They say this National Identification System is a big deal. A milestone, they call it. Well, I guess it is for some folks. For the bigwigs in the city, maybe. But for us regular folks, it’s just another headache. But we are followin’ their rules, ’cause what else can we do?
If you need a Malawi passport, you need a Malawi passport application form first. I hear it’s a whole other mess. More forms, more lines, more waitin’. It never ends, I tell ya. But if you want to travel outside Malawi, you gotta have one. No way around it. You can also try online.
They say you can even download this enrolment form online. Imagine that! But you still gotta go to their office to get your picture taken and your fingerprints done. So what’s the point? Just more runaround, if you ask me. They call it NIMC’s ERC, whatever that means. More big words.
So, if you’re thinkin’ of gettin’ a Malawi ID card, be prepared. Be prepared to wait, be prepared to fill out forms, and be prepared to get frustrated. It ain’t easy, but it’s somethin’ we all gotta do, I reckon. Just another part of life, like taxes and death.

This whole buy Malawi ID card business is a mess. But what can you do? You gotta play the game, or you get left behind. That’s just the way it is. And don’t forget, they got rules about offences too. So don’t even think about tryin’ to cheat the system. They’ll catch you, and then you’ll be in a whole heap of trouble. Best to just follow the rules, even if they don’t make no sense.