News / National
Corruption hits Registrar General's office Bulawayo
04 Apr 2021 at 11:57hrs | Views
No money no service.. This statement augured well with the people of Bulawayo who have to dig their pockets for them to be render some services by the staff at the registra general's office Bulawayo.
This harsh situation has affected even the eledelry who are forced to travel long distances to acquire basic national documents like the birthday certificates, National identity card and death certificate. They have to endure humiliation and shame as they are blantanly told by the security staff that 'number yanhasi yakwana".
The staff at the registrar general's office at Tregold are artificially creating a situation that will build a foundation of corrupt activities.
On Monday 29 may 2021 at around 9:30am when this reporter visited the registrar offices at Tregold Bulawayo on pretext of acquiring a lost ID ..the lady who was manning the front office said," (kanti awuboni ukuthi ngiyadla)..meaning can't you see am eating.
Surely, is such behaviour expected from a public officer .People spend nights waiting for their turn only to be told we only serve 20 people a day.
Some would have travelled all the way from rural areas to be rudely told number yakwana by a the staff.One lady who refused to be named said he ended up paying (esincane)...meaning bribe so as to be served after coming 5 times without help.
People in remote rural areas are finding it even harder to access registration documents. Government cutbacks led to the closure of the Registrar's e-mobile units, and offices in remote areas were often unable to function because of stationary or equipment shortages.
Of worridome is the case of Nonhlanhla Moyo, a 19year old girl, from sigodini Mguza District failed to sit for ordinary level exams for the second year running because she did not have a birth certificate.
Moyo, whose mother passed away due toCovid-19, travelled to Bulawayo , about 70km several times to try to meet the required time and number.
"At first, they [the officials] said I should bring my mother's national identity card, but when I did, they said there should be an adult witness who is a relative," said Moyo.
"When I brought my uncle, they said he should have the [same] surname as my mother."
On her last visit, she managed to bring along her mother's younger sister and even though they arrived in the morning after the long trip, they had not been served by late afternoon.
"If Nonhlanhla fails to get a birth certificate this time, she might just as well forget about school and start seriously thinking about getting married. 'We don't have the money to keep on coming back, and buses are avoiding our roads because the bridges are damaged," Moyo's aunt told this writer.
It is more worrisome that critical documents like death certificates have become so much complicated to acquire with some claiming that they have gone over a year without getting death certificates of their loved ones.
Surely a whole government complex which is on payroll and benefitting all the government ammenites cannot serve 20 people a day ,100 a week and 400 a month.
This harsh situation has affected even the eledelry who are forced to travel long distances to acquire basic national documents like the birthday certificates, National identity card and death certificate. They have to endure humiliation and shame as they are blantanly told by the security staff that 'number yanhasi yakwana".
The staff at the registrar general's office at Tregold are artificially creating a situation that will build a foundation of corrupt activities.
On Monday 29 may 2021 at around 9:30am when this reporter visited the registrar offices at Tregold Bulawayo on pretext of acquiring a lost ID ..the lady who was manning the front office said," (kanti awuboni ukuthi ngiyadla)..meaning can't you see am eating.
Surely, is such behaviour expected from a public officer .People spend nights waiting for their turn only to be told we only serve 20 people a day.
Some would have travelled all the way from rural areas to be rudely told number yakwana by a the staff.One lady who refused to be named said he ended up paying (esincane)...meaning bribe so as to be served after coming 5 times without help.
People in remote rural areas are finding it even harder to access registration documents. Government cutbacks led to the closure of the Registrar's e-mobile units, and offices in remote areas were often unable to function because of stationary or equipment shortages.
Moyo, whose mother passed away due toCovid-19, travelled to Bulawayo , about 70km several times to try to meet the required time and number.
"At first, they [the officials] said I should bring my mother's national identity card, but when I did, they said there should be an adult witness who is a relative," said Moyo.
"When I brought my uncle, they said he should have the [same] surname as my mother."
On her last visit, she managed to bring along her mother's younger sister and even though they arrived in the morning after the long trip, they had not been served by late afternoon.
"If Nonhlanhla fails to get a birth certificate this time, she might just as well forget about school and start seriously thinking about getting married. 'We don't have the money to keep on coming back, and buses are avoiding our roads because the bridges are damaged," Moyo's aunt told this writer.
It is more worrisome that critical documents like death certificates have become so much complicated to acquire with some claiming that they have gone over a year without getting death certificates of their loved ones.
Surely a whole government complex which is on payroll and benefitting all the government ammenites cannot serve 20 people a day ,100 a week and 400 a month.
Source - Shelton Muchena
