Felix
Matasva
MUTARE-
Despite going for over a year without any activity due to the Covid-19 induced
lockdowns, the District Registry office here is reportedly processing only 60
national Identity Documents (IDs) per day against a huge demand.
Manicaland provincial registrar Joyce Munamati said she
could not issue a comment on the matter.
The Conscious Development and Empowerment Trust (CODET)
together with Election Resource Centre (ERC) have since written to the District
Registry Office expressing deep concern over a small number of IDs being
processed despite the office having been on a long sabbatical.
The two civic organisations bemoaned the snail pace at which
the registry office was processing identification documents saying this will
have debilitating effects on the number of youths who will be eligible to vote
in elections.
CODET and ERC requested the District Registry’s office to
ensure that IDs were made available to all as stipulated under the confines of
the law saying if the process was not expedited it would have a ripple effect
on people’s rights to electoral processes.
“Identity documents are a constitutional right,
essential for one to claim their right to Zimbabwean citizenship, to be able to
participate in the socio-economic and political development of the country and
for one to be able to register to vote.
“The approach taken by the District Registry to only assist a
specific number of people per day disenfranchises citizens and has a direct
bearing on the ability of the populace to participate in electoral
processes,” reads part of the letter which was directed to Mutare District
Registry office by CODET and ERC.
CODET director Vimbai Berete told TellZim News that they
were calling on Mutare Registry’s Office to expedite the process of accessing
IDs or Birth certificates so that citizens can access their documents without
any unnecessary delays.
“People are booking to access services and those
who booked on April 13 can only access the services on May 11. This means that
a person will have to wait for four weeks in order to get an ID or Birth
certificate.
“This is inconsiderate since the office has not been
operating for a very long time due to lockdown restrictions leading to a large
number of people in need of IDs. This has a possibility of infringing on our
constitutional rights.
“We are pushing for more young people to register and
vote but without their national IDs they cannot be active members of society.
“People are incurring a lot of transport costs as they will
be given a later date of which they would have travelled from very long
distances for their Identification documents to be processed,” said
Berete.
As 2023 elections are fast approaching, political parties have
found themselves in a race to win the youth vote which is believed to be the
game changer in the upcoming elections.
