Zimbabwe: Birth certificate challenges in Masvingo
Published: 7/Jul/2019
Source: The Sunday News (Bulawayo)
By Walter Mswazie in Masvingo
A NUMBER of children in Masvingo are still facing challenges in acquiring birth certificates because of a number of reasons among them death of parents and problems related to legal issues, an official has said.
Addressing journalists after the completion of a three-day public hearing on the inquiry on access to national documentation last week, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) deputy chairperson Dr Ellen Sithole said out of more than 600 submissions the commission received during the inquiry, more than 50 percent were related to failure to access birth certificates.
“We had a total number of 641 submissions from eight districts including Masvingo Urban. Those who gave oral evidence were first consulted during stakeholders meetings in their respective districts before being asked to appear before the commission to give oral evidence. They were from Masvingo Urban, Masvingo District, Mwenezi, Chiredzi, Chivi, Zaka, Bikita and Gutu,” said Dr Sithole.
“We have gathered that 50,9 percent of the total number of those who made their submissions faced challenges in acquiring birth certificates. Those who said faced challenges to acquire National IDs (23,6 percent), passports (14,9 percent), death certificates (eight percent) and citizenship (2,5 percent),” she said.
Read further: https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/birth-certificate-challenges-in-masvingo/