Govt to accelerate registration of births, issuance of identity cards

THE Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage will accelerate the registration of births and issuance of identity cards in rural areas next month to make up for delays caused by the outbreak of the Covid -19 pandemic.

Resources for the drive which will be countrywide are available and the ministry is targeting to clear the backlog in four weeks.

This came out in Parliament last week when Deputy Home Affairs Minister Ruth Mavhunga-Maboyi said the ministry was aware of challenges being faced by registry offices especially in rural areas.
Makoni North legislator James Munetsi had asked her if there were any plans to register births and identification documents in rural constituencies.

Deputy Minister Mavhunga-Maboyi said although registration of documents was underway, the pace was too slow in rural areas hence the need for a targeted drive set for December.

"The ministry is actually registering births in rural areas although it is being done slowly because we do not have adequate resources. At times we experience breakdown of machines," said Deputy Minister Mavhunga-Maboyi.

She said the ministry was mobilising resources to enable it to accelerate the registration and issuing of IDs next month.

"We have been promised these resources and this is why I am saying by December, we will be in full swing especially in the rural areas where the exercise has been very slow. Our rural offices are however, registering births and issuing the IDs so people should visit them even before next month when we hope to accelerate the exercise," said Deputy Minister Mavhunga-Maboyi.

Umzingwane legislator Retired Brigadier General Levi Mayihlome added the issue of IDs and birth certificates was affecting people mainly from the southern region.

"Particularly in the region where I come from, I think for the past three years, we have been talking about the backlog on identity cards in the southern parts of the country because of the previous historical situations. We also have people that have migrated to neighbouring South Africa resulting in many children and even adults not having identity cards which is a challenge," said Mayihlome.

In response to the issue of decongesting registry offices, Deputy Minister Mavhunga-Maboyi said all efforts were being made to ensure that members of the public access these documents timely to avoid congestion.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube also assured Parliamentarians that resources will be availed to ensure that the target is met.

He said the Home Affairs Ministry had not yet exhausted its budget and as such enough resources will be released to fund the exercise.

"We will assist them by releasing money from their budget so that they can meet the demands for funding. It is necessary that everyone who needs to be registered is able to do so and as such we will move with speed to avail the required resources," said Minister Ncube.