adminproper documentation, which includes a birth certificate, should show that the particular alien was born in Zimbabwe.
This comes in the wake of claims by some political parties and the private media that the Registrar General’s Office was turning away scores of aliens who wanted to register as voters.
The reports further claimed that the aliens were being referred to the Zimbabwe National Army’s KGV1 barracks in Harare and police for clearance.
“If one has a birth certificate it is easy to get a national identification card and instantly register as a voter. All the centres set up in all the districts have the facilities to offer what is needed for aliens and other people to register as long as documents are in place,” the official said.
The official said it was impossible to immediately issue a national identification card to a person of foreign origin with no birth certificate at the mobile registration centres.
“In that case the alien cannot be issued with anything and he or she has to go back to the district offices because the Registrar General’s Office has to interview him or her. You cannot just go to a registration centre and say that I was born in Zimbabwe without any proof or documentation,” said the official.
“These are the cases which people are accusing our office of turning away people but we have an understanding that everything is going on smoothly at all the centres and those with proper documentation are being registered.”
Appearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs on Monday Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede said the mobile teams would cover the whole country and register every person intending to vote in the harmonised elections expected by July 31.
He said those who took citizenship of other countries, but now want to restore their Zimbabwean citizenship had to get resumption of residence from the immigration department by filling a restoration form.
“Restoration (of citizenship) is there, but one has to follow procedures,” he said.
Mr Mudede defended the district-based voter registration being carried out, saying Treasury had not provided adequate funding to carry out a ward-based exercise as required by the law. The ward based exercise, according to Mr Mudede, required US$104 million while the district-based exercise needed US$33, 3 million.
The current exercise has received US$4, 4 million from Treasury and about US$5 million more is needed to cover all areas.
Four teams per district have been dispatched to carry out voter registration and inspection of the voters’ roll.
Mr Mudede also denied allegations that MDC-T supporters were being removed from the voters roll.
Online Reporter