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Patrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief
OVER 200 children in Vungu District have no birth certificates, amid indications that thousands of children in the province do not have documents due to varied reasons such as health institutions refusing to provide birth records after mothers fail to pay for maternity fees.

In her presentation to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) during a national inquiry into the access to documentation in Gweru recently, Gweru social welfare officer Ms Phyllis Tena said one of their awareness exercises had shown that hundreds of children did not have birth certificates.

“In July this year, the Department of Social Welfare, Childline, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the police conducted child protection awareness in Ward 18, Vungu District,” she said.

“From the awareness, one of the issues raised was lack of birth certificates. An estimated 200 children in that ward don’t have birth certificates.”

Ms Tena said an average of 12 children were found not to have birth certificates on a monthly basis under the National Case Management System (NCMS).

She said 47 children without birth certificates were reported under the NCMS during the first quarter of 2019.

“There is need to set up registry offices at ward level especially in resettlement and communal areas,” said Ms Tena.

Gweru District Registrar Mr Timothy Mariga said challenges that the public faced in accessing documents included long distances to registration centres, financial constraints, health institutions refusing to provide birth records after people failed to pay maternity fees, as well communication and language barriers for clients who speak Ndebele, Tonga and Chewa.

“Other challenges include non-cooperation from parents, guardians, traditional and religious leaders,” he said.

“Challenges that the Registrar’s Department faced include failure by parents to register births and deaths early as required by the Constitution.”

The department, he said, also faced shortages of staff, financial constraints, inadequate offices, computer network failure, non-computerised sub offices, existing policies and vehicles among others.

“Government should increase the number of registration offices countrywide to bring the service right to the people’s doorsteps. Government should also provide resources required for passport production and issuing polythene identity cards, enact strict laws enforcing registration soon after birth of a child as well as review some policies,” said Mr Mariga.

“The payment of statutory fees must be waived for the elderly, orphaned, and physically and mentally challenged people, while health institutions must not demand maternity fees as a condition to issue birth records.”

Meanwhile, the ZHRC has began the Midlands Province public hearings on the national inquiry on access to documentation in Zimbabwe.

ZHRC commissioner Dr Ellen Sithole said access to identity documents was a fundamental human right which is guaranteed in the Constitution and facilitates the enjoyment of other human rights.

“People without documents have challenges accessing rights, which are the preserve of all citizens like the rights to health, social security, parental and social care, housing, travel documents, education and to participate in politics,” she said.

Dr Sithole said preliminary findings showed that most people in the Midlands fail to access birth and death certificates, identity cards and passports, while there are few cases relating to citizenship.