Staff Reporter
Government is committed to clear the identity cards backlog and has resolved to launch a massive registration programme that will run from April to September 2022.
Briefing the media recently, the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe said he was aware of the challenges being faced by citizens in accessing identity documents and that his ministry was working towards solving the crisis.
“The department of civil registry is riddled by a backlog of identity cards which has seen long queues being common at its offices. We are going to start mobile registrations. I’m also aware that you can’t get a passport if you do not have these documents,” said Minister Kazembe.
Minister Kazembe said the mobile registration programme will start in April this year and will see over two million Zimbabweans getting identity documents.
“But we have a programme that is starting on the 1st of April where we intend to give more than two million people IDs, birth certificates and passports. The programme will run from April to September this year. We shall try our level best so that no one will be left behind,” said Minister Kazembe.
Lack of critical national documents, especially among the youths, has seen them failing to register to vote during the voter registration exercise that is currently being rolled out by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
The mobile voter registration is in two phases. The first phase started on 1 February 2022 and will end on 28 February 2022.The second phase will run from 11 to 30 April 2022.
