News / National
Computerised system thwarts marriage fraud
01 Jul 2013 at 16:33hrs | Views
The introduction of the new computerised system has contributed tremendously to the eradication of multiple marriages of convenience and immigration fraud, the Registrar General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede has said.
He said the new system was introduced in February last year following an increase in the number of marriage fraud cases. It has managed to reduce the vice from 20 cases reported last year to zero in 2013.
Mr Mudede said this last Friday during the tour of National Registration Bureau in Harare by the Sadc Parliamentary Forum mission, which was in the country to assess the pre-election political environment.
"Since the introduction of the new computerised system we have effectively thwarted cases of marriage fraud particularly by foreigners from Nigeria and West Africa," said Mr Mudede.
"Cases have declined from 20 we recorded last year to zero to date."
The RG's office, he said, would continue working round the clock to improve the new marriage certificate and system.
Government introduced measures to flush out foreigners and unscrupulous locals who were abusing Zimbabwe's marriage laws in February 2012.
The new measures saw the introduction of computerisation and serialised marriage certificates.
This came after several cases of foreigners flouting Zimbabwean laws to regularise their stay in the country by entering into marriages of convenience to acquire resident permits and citizenship in Zimbabwe.
Culprits mostly from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo among other countries were entering into marriages of convenience and marry more than one wife using different names to secure Zimbabwean citizenship.
The new system compels all foreigners marrying to produce a certificate of no marriage from their country, which will be verified before they are allowed to marry in Zimbabwe.
The RG's Office keeps all records of all marriages on its computer database, which also has national registration numbers and passport details.
He said the new system was introduced in February last year following an increase in the number of marriage fraud cases. It has managed to reduce the vice from 20 cases reported last year to zero in 2013.
Mr Mudede said this last Friday during the tour of National Registration Bureau in Harare by the Sadc Parliamentary Forum mission, which was in the country to assess the pre-election political environment.
"Since the introduction of the new computerised system we have effectively thwarted cases of marriage fraud particularly by foreigners from Nigeria and West Africa," said Mr Mudede.
"Cases have declined from 20 we recorded last year to zero to date."
The RG's office, he said, would continue working round the clock to improve the new marriage certificate and system.
Government introduced measures to flush out foreigners and unscrupulous locals who were abusing Zimbabwe's marriage laws in February 2012.
The new measures saw the introduction of computerisation and serialised marriage certificates.
This came after several cases of foreigners flouting Zimbabwean laws to regularise their stay in the country by entering into marriages of convenience to acquire resident permits and citizenship in Zimbabwe.
Culprits mostly from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo among other countries were entering into marriages of convenience and marry more than one wife using different names to secure Zimbabwean citizenship.
The new system compels all foreigners marrying to produce a certificate of no marriage from their country, which will be verified before they are allowed to marry in Zimbabwe.
The RG's Office keeps all records of all marriages on its computer database, which also has national registration numbers and passport details.
Source - herald
