The Sunday Mail
Vincent Gono
Government is committed to issuing birth certificates and national identity cards to all citizens, including those affected by post-Independence civil disturbances, a senior State official has said.
Registrar-General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede told our Bulawayo Bureau last week that his department was working on providing documentation to all Zimbabweans.
He said, “There were reports that people in Tsholotsho and other parts of Matabeleland North were being denied national registration documents. We went there as a department and we were told a different story. There is no deliberate policy by any other Government department to deny anyone such documentation.
“The communities there told us a different story. They said most of their children went to South Africa and left their kids in the care of their grandparents who are reluctant to get the particulars for their grandchildren. And at times, they will not be having the necessary papers.”
Mr Mudede continued: “That’s a political fallacy meant to discredit the Government. And such sentiments usually spring up when we go towards elections. But there is nothing like that, there is no truth in it. Poems were done when we visited the district, with children imploring their parents to make sure they get them the necessary registration paperwork that makes their lives a lot easier at school and elsewhere.
“We have long decentralised our operations to districts; that is for birth certificates and other national identity documents. We want the communities to have easy access to those things, but the issuance of passports will remain centralised. We have only decentralised passport application and distribution to provinces.
“We are unlikely to completely decentralise the issuance of passports to districts and provinces because of their strict security nature in line with the security dictates of Interpol and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.”
Section 81(1)(b) of Zimbabwe’s Constitution stipulates that “every child has the right to be given a name and family name”.
It also says a notice of birth or death should be given to the Registrar-General at the nearest relevant office within 42 days.
Mr Mudede said, “We sat down with the team and agreed that it was not necessary to cause the arrest and prosecution of violators of the law. We, therefore, continue with the crusade of encouraging parents to acquire the important registration documents for their children in time as the documentation helps them in realising other rights as access to education, legal rights, protection and other social services.”
