Malawi to use voter cards for fertilizer subsidy

Malawi said on Monday it would use voter registration cards to identify beneficiaries for fertiliser subsidies to help fight fraud, a move human rights activists said could leave thousands out.

This year 1.6 million people are earmarked to benefit from the seed and fertiliser subsidy programme compared with 1.2 million people last year.

Malawi has no national identity verification method and uses passports and drivers' licences for that purpose.

Principal Secretary in the ministry of agriculture, Andrew Daudi, told Reuters those without the voter cards will not be able to access the subsidised fertilizer.

"But this year those who did not register to vote will not benefit from the subsidy programme because it means they do not have the voter identity cards which we want to use to verify and make sure that the intended beneficiaries get the fertilizers."

Daudi said the government had decided to use the voter cards to fight fraud and the use of ghost beneficiaries that has been rampant in the last four years since the programme started.

But the decision to exclude those who did not register to vote has raised fears that thousands may be left out.

"While the voter ID card can identify one as Malawian and eligible to exercise the right to vote in national elections, the document cannot establish one as a bonafide beneficiary of the low cost fertiliser," said Udule Mwakasugura, a human rights activist.

An opposition legislator said the decision would discriminate against others who may not have managed to register to vote because they may have been sick or bereaved at the time of registration.