Mudede makes u-turn on metal IDs statement

Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede has made a u-turn on his proclamation that metal identification cards cannot be used to register or vote in the 2018 elections.

He said that if metal ids were to become invalid his department would issue a statutory instrument to that effect. Said Mudede:

The Registrar-General has no intentions to scrap or do away with the metal identity card as it is already in circulation. Members of the public are also informed that the department of the Registrar-General has been issuing polythene-synthetic identity cards for a long time. As such, the Registrar-General of civil registration has the right to advise and encourage the public to replace the metal identity document with the polythene synthetic card, which has enhanced security features. This does not mean that the metal identity document will not be valid. If it were the intention, the Department would have come up with an instrument to that effect.

Mudede was quoted by the State broadcaster ZBC as saying that metal ids cannot be used to voter or register in the 2018 elections because they are not machine readable.

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