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Walter Nyamukondiwa in TENGWE
Government requires at least $18 million to conduct mobile birth and national identity registration in mostly farming and remote communities that will see people with alien status regularising their citizenship.

This is expected to accord previously disenfranchised people an opportunity to regularise their citizenship so that they can exercise their right to vote in the 2018 harmonised elections.

The outreach programme is expected to be conducted at all secondary schools in the country.

The biggest chunk of the Registrar-General’s office budget will go towards travel and subsistence allowances, fuel and vehicles for staff who will conduct the exercise.

Home Affairs Deputy Minister Cde Obedingwa Mguni, said government had to move with speed to regularise the status of people categorised as aliens.

This is because there are more people who need their citizenship regularised before general elections in 2018.

“It is critical that Government moves with speed to cater for the people who are eligible to vote but cannot do so because their birth and national identity certificates indicate that they are aliens,” he said.

“The exercise was conducted before the 2013 harmonised elections but a lot of people were left out while others have grown up during the period and also need to vote in 2018.”

Cde Mguni said the programme needed to be done in phases starting now so that many people were covered by 2018.

“The Registrar-General’s office cannot wait for the lump sum disbursement of the over $18 million to start the programme,” he said.

Hurungwe East National Assembly Member Cde Sarah Mahoka, said most people could not afford the $40 needed to regularise their citizenship status.

“We have many people who were born in this country but have one or more of their parents being emigrants who cannot afford the $40 needed to regularise their citizenship,” she said.

Cde Mahoka said the fees needed to be reviewed while more centres should be set up near people as they were currently travelling long distances to get services.

She offered to work with the community to renovate buildings at Tengwe business centre, provide fuel and manpower for the exercise to expedite the process while waiting for treasury to release the money.