GOVT INTRODUCES NEW NRCs

By Joyce Nyirenda and Timothy Malumo

Government through the Ministry of Home Affairs is this year expected to introduce new National Registration Cards (NRCs) which will have enhanced security features.

The 3.1 million Euro project is scheduled to kick start during the first quarter of 2018 where 500,000 citizens are expected to be captured.

In an interview with Police News, National Registration and Citizenship Registrar General Mathews Nyirongo explained that the first phase of the introduction of the new NRCs would start with Lusaka Province.

Mr Nyirongo addedthat the programme would then be rolled out to the entire country in phasesin which his office is targeting to replace the 7 million NRCs in circulation and add another 1 million to carter for the new registrants.The Registrar General said that once the exercise commences, citizens would be required to exchange the old green NRCs with the new poly-carbonate cards.

“Our target is to capture 8 million Zambians. What we have done is that every year we will be capturing 2 million citizens. Right now as a country, we have 7 million citizens in possession of these old green NRCs which we want to replace with the new ones,” Mr Nyirongo said.

Asked on what measures the Institution has put in place so that foreigners do not take advantage of the exercise to acquire the Zambian Identity cards, Mr Nyirongo said screening through interviews would be conducted during the replacement exercise.

“We shall involve the Zambia Police Service, Immigration Department and other agencies cardinal in this national exercise so that we don’t have foreigners obtaining these cards,” he explained.

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