Staff Writer

Government continues treading diligently in cognisant of COVID-19, with the Civil Registry Department issuing national IDs and birth certificates at the Harare Agricultural Show Exhibition, in a move tailored to decongest local offices.

This move, was also adopted at the just ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo were many are said to have utilised the Registrar General’s exhibition stand for this purpose.

The public has welcomed this move saying that it came as a relief as many have been failing to access identification documents due to limited numbers that are being attended to at the registry offices, owing it to COVID-19.

“I have been trying to access my lost ID for the past three months, but have been failing to due to the high demand by people. The last time I came priority was being given to pupils writing public examination,” said one Tinashe Chitumba, who had just replaced his identification card.

“I came solely for this purpose and am glad the process was flawless and quick.”

The Deputy Registrar General, Ben Mpala, said that this move would also be adopted countrywide were their offices will take advantage of any such exhibitions in any province.

“COVID-19 is still ravaging the population hence we want to maximise on any available opportunity to better serve the people in their comfort zones.

“Apart from the pandemic, the Civil Registry Department has been experiencing challenges acquiring material (polythene synthetic) used for IDs which then created a backlog which we are hoping to offset as soon as possible,” he said.

He added that the registry department had resolved any such challenges, called on the populace to come access their documents and assured improved service delivery.