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The government of Zimbabwe has been caught pants down after failing to process national identification particulars as IDs, and birth certificates for over two months now.
On Guardian’s collecting birth certificates for minors and stating that other documents had since been submitted, a member of staff at the RG’s offices responded that documents were not ready for collection.
“Since the month of September we have not processed any documents and we cannot assist you in any way until the system is up.
“We have not been told when it will be up, but all I can tell you is that even if I retrieve the application documents you submitted and hand them back. You will not be able to get any assistance since this is being experienced nationwide,” he said.
Registrar General, Henry Machiri was not available for comment as his mobile phone was unreachable.
TechnoMag sent WhatsApp messages to him and he had not been responded to by the time of publishing.
Minister of Home Affairs Kazembe Kazembe was also not reachable for comment.
If left unattended soon, the situation is likely to infringe citizens’ rights to documentations and create unsustainable backlogs and risks a situation where records will get mixed up. Some may also be disenfranchised by failing to register to vote in next year’s crucial crunch 2023 elections.
Zimbabweans wishing to obtain birth certificates and national identity cards (IDs) have now endured two months of travelling back and forth to the Registrar General’s (RG) offices nationwide, only to be informed that Information Technology Systems at the centre are down.
TechnoMag visited the RG’s offices at Makombe and Market Square offices revealed a very unusual situation after being greeted by empty benches and waiting rooms, which for a moment could be mistaken for efficiency of having cleared all document seekers on time.
“The offices are not as busy. They have not been processing documents for quite some time now because their IT system is down,” a vendor who operates at Makombe offices said.
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