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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) is tackling challenges faced by Bulawayo residents in acquiring documents such as birth certificates and identity cards.
ZHRC teams visited various city wards on Monday and yesterday engaging those having challenges in accessing national documents ahead of a five-day enquiry that will run from Monday next week to Friday to address challenges facing people in the city.
The five-day Bulawayo hearing will be held at Selbourne Hotel.
The inquiry into problems people face in acquiring national documents was initiated after the commission observed that there is a crisis across the country.
The inquiry will look at the root causes and factors as well as implications on affected people and the commission will also review the effectiveness of existing laws, institutions, policies and procedures and analyse attitudes and beliefs relating to accessing identity documents in Zimbabwe.
In an interview yesterday, ZHRC national co-ordinator Mrs Goretti Mudzongo said some of the people who were identified on Monday and yesterday are set to testify before its commission of inquiry.
“What has been happening is an exercise to gather witnesses. That is people who have challenges in accessing these documents: birth certificate, passport and identity cards. The process that is happening here is called the advance visit where ZHRC gathers citizens who have experienced those challenges (access to national documentation). The purpose is to identify those witnesses who can fill submission forms and these are the witnesses who will attend the public hearings that will be held next week (in Bulawayo),” said Mrs Mudzongo.
She said identification of witnesses ended yesterday and ZHRC teams will be visiting Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South to conduct a mop up exercise on witnesses that failed to submit their forms when the hearings were held in the two provinces.
Mrs Mudzongo said Bulawayo would be the eighth province to be visited by the ZHRC commissioners next week after Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South, Midlands, Masvingo, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East.
“We have issues where people are not aware of registration requirements that they need to register, we have issues across all the seven provinces because of the distances they need to travel to the nearest Registrar General’s Office especially those people in remote areas. They have to travel to the provincial or district offices. For example when we did Matabeleland South, people have to travel from Beitbridge to Gwanda to apply for passports,” she said.
Mrs Mudzongo said the cost of transport is one of the major hindrances especially for those travelling long distances to get documentation.
She said in other cases the whereabouts of a child’s mother would not be known making it difficult for guardians to get the minor a birth certificate.
“One of the terms of reference of this inquiry is to come up with a report with recommendations to Government and civil society on how access to documentation can be enhanced,” said Mrs Mudzongo. — @nqotshili
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