SPECIAL FOCUS
OUR
HIGHLIGHTS FROM MATOBO
FINDINGS
ZPP reached out to communities in Matobo and they
confirmed that the national registration blitz was generally
going on well. A brighter side was how the officials were
able to attend to special cases of people who did not have
parents as witnesses.
Resource limitations
There were however, some challenges and ZPP continues to
urge the DRG to correct some of the anomalies noted in the
process.
The Department of the Registrar
General (DRG), is constrained by
limited resources such that it is not
capable of fully implementing its
mandate of getting every
Zimbabwean registered. As a result
of the challenges in resources,
officials from the DRG who have
been deployed to some areas, do not
have the required equipment and
materials. For instance in Ward 23 of
Buhera Central, the office was
issuing IDs without photos. At
Chirozva, they issued 360 IDs while
at Machiragwama Primary they
issued 280 IDs, all without photos.
An official from the department said
they did not get enough films to
process the photos for the long
national ID’s known as waiting
passes. This will result in people
failing to register to vote as the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will
require a national ID with a photo in
order for one to get registered. In
more ways than one, a national ID
without a photo is just but a useless
document. What it means is that
rather than the process being
finalized during the mobile exercise
the affected have to make another
visit to get the issue of photographs
on IDs sorted out. The shortages of
equipment and materials is present
across the entire country and at
Harare’s Budiriro Community Hall,
ZPP interviewed citizens who said
that they were sleeping at Budiriro
community hall in an effort to access
national documents as the
department was issuing only 30
documents a day.
Below are some of findings:
Matobo Ward 9: Cllr Otto Sikhosana
The access to documentation in Matobo district is going on
well. I had the privilege to visit two sites where citizens were
able to procure the documents. The following is what I saw:
•
•
•
Some citizens were able to procure birth certificates/
IDs although it was very difficult during the first days
as they required witnesses. Citizens cooperated very
well and provided all the necessary requirements for
them to procure birth certificates. In the event where
there was no witness within the family, the registry
then requires a witness in form of a village head.
The registry staff strived to attend to each and every
one who had a challenge and understood their plight. If
one had a difficult scenario, a higher authority was
engaged to best help the person.
Each and every day, the registry had a complaints desks
where citizens were allowed to register their challenges
and complaints.
Challenges
•
•
One major problem experienced was an issue of
children who intended to procure birth certificates and
yet living with their grandparents or guardians. Some
managed to procure and yet others failed as situations
differed based on the presented scenarios.
There were also complaints by citizens that although
the officers were friendly, some used the Shona
language when many wanted to be served in
ChiKalanga or IsiNdebele. One incident was registered
where a citizen complained that his name had been
misspelt. He had to undergo the same process but
eventually was successful.
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