Zimbabwe Intensifies Registration And Documentation Of Citizens

Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe has said his ministry will speed up the registration and documentation of all eligible citizens in the preparation for the 2023 general elections.

Kazembe made the remarks last week while officiating at the opening of the Guruve Registry Offices in Mashonaland Central province. He said:

The department will soon be embarking on a countrywide exercise to ensure every eligible voter is registered and documented in preparation for the 2023 plebiscite. This will be done in consultation with the traditional and community leadership. Government attaches great importance to civil registration because it captures accurate data necessary for national development.

It is a legal requirement that every child be registered within 42 days of birth. A birth certificate is, therefore, an essential legal document for securing recognition of individuals before the law and safeguards their human rights and access to basic social services.

But the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) yesterday said it had the sole mandate of registering voters. Said the commission on Tuesday:

Section 239(c) of the Constitution outlines voter registration as one of the commission’s functions and not that of the Registrar-General’s Office as implied in your newspaper.

In October, the government announced that it had issued over 4 000 Identity Documents in Bikita (Masvingo) and Tsholotsho (Matabeleland North) during the recent special exercise by the Civil Registry Department that targeted the San community and those in Bikita who were affected by the floods in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

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