N AT I O N A L I N Q U I R Y R E P O R T ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION For Human Dignity “…I only managed to take birth certificates for 4 children because the DRGs office said they could only serve 4 of my children. They indicated that I was wasting time for other clients. I had witnesses and a letter from the Village Head confirming that I had home deliveries.” The panel referred this witness to the DRG’s help desk at the public hearings’ venue. She was given a form to take to the headmaster of the school the children were attending in Harare. She duly complied. She was also asked to bring two competent witnesses, who were aware of the birth of these children. She sent some money for the two witnesses to come to Harare from Gokwe to assist in the registration of her children. She informed the panel that “We paid RTGS$150 for each witness to travel one way to Harare from Gokwe”. Armed with her witnesses, a letter from the School Head and the note which was issued at the DRGs help desk, she visited the DRG’s offices at Market Square to register her children. The DRG Officer61 who attended to her case, told her to go back to Chireya, Gokwe to register her children there as they required the midwife and the register from the Johane Marange church where the births of the children were recorded. She further narrated that the DRG Official refused to process the registration and took the note she had been given at the DRG’s help desk crumpled it and threw it in the bin. As the public hearings in Harare were still ongoing, the witness came back and informed the panel of the incident. When telephoned by the Deputy Chairperson of the panel, to appear before the panel and explain the case, the DRG official did not cooperate. However, he later telephoned, requesting the witness to go back and register her children’s births because the office had secured someone from the Johane Marange church to assist in the registration of the children. With the intervention of ZHRC, the witness was able to register the births of her other 3 children. This case clearly demonstrated the glaring inconsistencies of information given to people seeking to access documentation, unhelpful and negative attitudes which militate against access to documents by members of the public. In some instances, attitudes and beliefs of some DRG personnel (beliefs which are not based on scientific evidence) resulted in some women failing to access birth certificates for their children. Some women were discriminated on grounds of age. For example, an eighty-two (82) year-old witness was told that she could not acquire a birth certificate for her child since it meant that she had given birth at fifty-four (54) years of age. In a similar case heard in Masvingo Province, another female witness stated that registration of her child was refused based on the premise that she could not have given birth to her child at forty-six (46) years, despite testimony from her relatives and traditional leader giving evidence that she was the mother. The DRG personnel argued in both cases that it was impossible for these women to have given birth at these ages as they presumably had reached menopause. They were denied birth registration of their children on that basis without seeking verification or taking into account witness testimonies or recommending DNA tests. This led to these people being un-documented. 3.2.5 Allegations of Corruption “A mobile registration team came to our area and I narrated my story, that l do not have a birth certificate because I do not know my parents. They said if l wanted my things to be sorted, I should give them a goat. I gave them the goat, which they slaughtered in my presence and l could not get anything. Ndakaora mwoyo (I gave up) especially after l had sacrificed my goat. This happened around preparations for elections, in Saurangwanda community”. 42-yearold male witness, Sanyati District, Mashonaland West Province. registration exercises. 62 Out of 38% of witnesses who testified that registration issues were a challenge, 1.7% alleged that corruption by some DRG personnel was also a barrier. The allegations were that some demanded payment in cash or in kind (goats or chickens) for them to provide registration services where requirements for registration were insufficient especially during mobile Corruption allegations that were levelled against some of the DRG Officials were also made in connection with passport applications. The failure to pay bribes demanded by these officials prevented people who did not believe Incidentally, he was also part of the RG staff assisting at the Help Desk which was set up at the Public Hearing venue. 62 See testimonies on corruption allegations in annexure 61 20 20