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Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services will next week quiz the Registrar General (RG) Mr Tobaiwa Mudede on why Zimbabweans continue to face difficulties in obtaining national documents at the RG’s Offices.
Chairperson of the committee, who is also Makokoba MP, Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube, told Parliament on Tuesday that there was a need for a change in mindset in the country’s Registry Department to make sure that all Zimbabweans are officially registered.
“The citizenship registration is a burning issue in our country and I must assure the House that our Portfolio Committee is seriously addressing it. It has always been like a favour for someone who wants to get identification documents, which include birth certificates, identity cards, passport or even a marriage certificate,” said Rtd Col Dube.
“I appreciate that our Registrar General Mr Mudede has been in this office since 1980 and that is a long time. So, it might be that he didn’t change his mindset from what he adopted when he got the job. Our parliamentary Portfolio Committee will invite him next week to come and answer a few questions to clarify some of the issues that are of concern to the citizens of Zimbabwe.”
He said it was unfortunate that people were still struggling to acquire identity documents after the country had gained independence.
“I would say that we adopted this as a culture from the colonial days. During the colonial era, the native commissioner usually had some junior officers who handled this and made sure that before you could get your identity document you had to struggle.
“Now when you go to these offices, it is easier to solve a quantum mathematic problem than get the documents that you want because they make it extremely difficult. As a result most of our people are not registered,” said Rtd Col Dube.
He said it was every Zimbabwean’s right to acquire national registration documents, not a privilege.
Online Reporter