In his State of the Nation Address to Parliament on the 4^th May, 2018, His Excellency President Arthur Peter Mutharika reminded lawmakers about his strong commitment to Malawi’s National ID project, underscoring the improvement in governance and services for the citizens that the ID card is bringing. In the televised address the President urged all stakeholders to agree on a plan for integrating various social services on the ID: “This must happen sooner than later. I want the ID Card to be fully maximized.”

The President told Parliament: "Mr. Speaker, Sir, we launched the Public-Sector Reforms Programme in 2015 to improve public service delivery. We have delivered the National ID to 9 million citizens. Now we will be giving health services to only our citizens. With the ID, we have made it easy for our people to access services such as passport and license processing. With the ID, we have flushed out ghost beneficiaries and duplication in social welfare programmes such as Public Works Programme and Social Cash Transfer. With the ID, the risk of non-repayment of loans has gone down. Financial institutions will easily be doing background checks on the credibility of the borrower. This will lower the cost of borrowing.

We have delivered the ID to the people of Malawi, and everyone agrees this is transformation. The Malawi Identity Card is one of the best IDs in the world. Our next move Mr. Speaker, Sir, is to ensure that we undertake a collective effort to integrate all possible social services on the ID. Therefore, I would like to urge the Ministry responsible to convene all stakeholders and agree on a plan for integrating various social services on the ID. This must happen sooner than later. I want the ID Card to be fully maximized."