IDs crisis resurfaces 

Source: IDs crisis resurfaces -Newsday Zimbabwe

THE Registrar-General’s Office has run out of consumables used to produce national identity documents (IDs), leaving thousands of citizens stranded as the IDs crisis resurfaces.

NewsDay has established that several registry offices across the country, including those in major cities, have stopped issuing polythene ID cards.

The offices have resorted to issuing green waiting passes to applicants, while those acquiring birth certificates wait for up to five months before the documents are issued.

As a result, some locals, especially those in rural areas, are travelling hundreds of kilometres to the Harare Civil Registry offices to get IDs.

However, the Harare Civil Registry Office reportedly issues no more than 200 IDs per day.

This, according to reports, has forced hundreds of citizens to spend up to three days queuing for the document with touts cashing in on desperate document seekers by charging them US$15 to jump the long queues.

Some desperate citizens are forking out cash amounting to US$100 to facilitate the production of their IDs.

Officials at several registry offices, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the machines used to process polythene IDs were also down.

But Registrar-General Henry Machiri denied that they had run out of consumables.

“During the pre-election period, government availed consumables and every registration office had consumables. So, that problem was addressed well before elections. Yes, you can go to an office and find the machine down or the network down, but the major problem was of consumables, which was addressed,” he said.

“But since we use machines, today they can be up and tomorrow they are down. But when doing rollouts [of dentralisation], we can’t do all at once. So if there are offices that are not issuing out IDs  right now, the machines might have developed a fault, or network challenges. I can’t tell the offices off head.”

Machiri confirmed that the Harare Registry Office was currently processing a limited number of IDs of up to 220 per day.

“It depends on how many printers they have, but mostly if they are working normal time, they produce 200, 220 or 230. It will be unfair to make 500 people wait in queues when we know that they will not get them. I tell you, if we were to give green waiting passes only and set aside the plastic ID, we would give even up to 500 per day because the issuance is easy.”

Home Affairs ministry secretary Raphael Faranisi could neither deny nor confirm the reports, preferring to only say government was working towards decentralising the national registration centres.

“You are aware that just before the election, there was a mobile registration exercise by the Registrar’s Office to enhance accessibility of national documents,” Faranisi said.

“And also just before the election, there was a mop-out exercise to issue IDs, as part of the government’s thrust of leaving no one and no place behind. Government has also embarked on a decentralisation programme to enhance access of the registration across the country. If there are any challenges faced I have to check,” he said.

Defence, Home Affairs, Veterans of the Liberation Struggle and Security Parliamentary Portfolio Committee chairperson Albert Nguluvhe said the committee was not aware that the Registrar’s Office was failing to issue national IDs.

He, however, confirmed that citizens were travelling long distances to acquire the documents.

“I am not aware of the consumables shortages, but we will look into that. What we are aware of is the challenge where people travel long distances just to acquire national IDs,” he said.

Nguluvhe said the committee visited the Registrar’s Office on Monday and raised the issue with the officials.

“However, we did not hear anything about the issue of consumables. It’s something we may have to check. But what I know is that the RG’s Office has plans to empower chiefs so that they can be authorised to facilitate issuance of national documents to address the issue of long distances,” he added.

Human rights lawyer Tinashe Chinopfukutwa said government was violating a basic human right by failing to issue out IDs.

Chinopfukutwa said section 35 of the Constitution mandates the State to ensure all Zimbabwe citizens obtain birth certificates and identity documents.

“If someone now has to travel hundreds of kilometres to try and get IDs, it means that the State is failing in its obligation to provide the identity documents,” he said.

“In terms of section 58 of the Constitution, citizens have the right to reasonable, fair and efficient, administrative conduct at the Registrar’s Office.”