By SARAH MWANZA in Chipata –

CHIPATA District Commissioner Kalunga Zulu has disclosed that some Malawian and Mozambican nationals have attempted to obtain national registration cards (NRCs) during the ongoing issuance exercise.
Mr Zulu said the discovery had led authorities to request people wishing to obtain NRCs to provide authentication letters from their respective chiefs to prove that they were truly Zambians, thereby
slowing down the pace at which the exercise was moving.
Mr Zulu said Chipata was a border district with Mozambique and Malawi and that the people spoke the same languages of Chewa and Nyanja which made it difficult to ascertain whether they were Zambians or not.
“Just by looking at the people, it is very difficult to tell who is a Zambian and who is not, hence to avoid giving NRCs to foreigners, we asked the people to collect letters from their respective chiefs.
“We have recorded some cases were some Mozambicans and Malawians attempted to get our Zambian NRC,” he said.
Mr Zulu said some stakeholders raised concern over the request for letters from chiefs for verification purposes but reiterated that doing so was the only way of distinguishing Zambians from foreigners.
Mr Zulu said the voter registration exercise started on a good note as many people trooped in large numbers to obtain the documents but that the turnout had started reducing.
“I think the people getting voters’ cards reduced because many never had NRCs but with the process running simultaneously I am sure the numbers will increase,” he said.
He was, however, happy to note that more youths had taken the two exercises seriously and was confident that the voter apathy may not be recorded during next year’s general elections.