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 Lack of adequate decentralisation of the DRG offices68 affects access to documentation. Evidence received indicated that some remote areas had no sub-offices and people had to travel long distances to reach nearest registration centres69. It was also noted that challenges faced were compounded by bad road networks rendering the few centres inaccessible especially, during rainy seasons70. Additionally, some sub-offices were inadequately resourced due to financial challenges and non-computerisation. Some offices were not operational due to lack of appropriate office and residential facilities for employees, which often led to high staff turnover71, especially in rural areas. The Midlands Provincial Registrar General Office revealed that despite the establishment of sub offices in the Province, these were insufficient to serve people, for instance sub offices such as Muchakata in Gweru, Buchwa in Mberengwa and Gwanza in Shurugwi were not opened due to shortage of office space and staff accommodation, among others. Some of the services provided by the DRG continue to be centralised. These include national documents such as passports and citizenship or services relevant to acquisition of national documents such as verification of fingerprints. The “Passports are a challenge centralisation of passport applications at provincial offices resulted in because they are only acquired in applicants having to travel long distances. It further results in long Gweru and in Harare and this is queues which make the DRG Offices resort to limiting the numbers of costly as people use $200 on people served per day72. This causes hardships and security risks as transport for a passport that costs people have to sleep in queues waiting to be served. Those travelling $53.” 57-year-old male witness, long distances to the DRG Offices would fail to make it on time to be Gokwe South District, Midlands served, despite waking up early. Province. It was noted that citizenship applications were processed and approved only at Head Office in Harare. The cost for travelling to Harare entails transport and accommodation, which many applicants cannot afford. In addition, immigration services are also centralized and this is a challenge for people of foreign descent living in border areas, mining and farming communities, who require residence permits and their citizenship73 regularised. The centralization does not only affect service provision but also other ancillary issues like the service and repair of the DRG equipment used in the production of national documentation, which is centralised in Harare74. This results in delays in the issuance of national identity documents due to the lengthy time it takes to have the equipment serviced and repaired in Harare. For example, the Provincial RG for Mashonaland Central Province stated that there were 22 sub offices in the Province, but 28 more were needed to bring the total number to 50 so as to be able to effectively serve the public. 69 For example, in Mashonaland Central Province, people travel over 100km to access RG Offices the Provincial RG for Mashonaland West stated that there were 22 sub offices in the Province, but 28 more were needed to bring the total number to 50 so as to be able to effectively serve the public. 70 For example, the Provincial Registrar for Mashonaland Central Province highlighted that people in the low-lying Zambezi Valley, which stretches from Mbire to Mt Darwin, have complained of insufficient sub-offices in their areas because these areas are usually inaccessible during the rainy season and have bad roads, hence offices should be closer to the people. 71 Non- computerisation of sub-offices resulted in issuance of manual birth certificates and national identity cards which took long to process when sent to the main offices for the information to be captured electronically, and at times extra costs were incurred to get polythene national identity documents issued at district offices. 72 Per day, the DRG issues a certain number of cards (with numbers) indicating one’s position in the queue. People resorted to sleeping in the queue because there was no fixed time for issuance of the cards, by the RG’s office. 73 The Chief Director - Department of Immigration highlighted that the Department only assisted with the profile of persons who have stayed in the country for at least 10 years as permanent residents. The Immigration Department only supplies the information when asked to do so by the RGs office when it deems it necessary in the determination of the suitability of an applicant to be granted citizenship. 74 Gwanda Provincial RG’s office revealed that printing machines for IDs were serviced and repaired in Harare at the national office. A vehicle from Gwanda went to Harare only on Mondays. The machines were at times not fixed timeously, resulting in people having to travel to Bulawayo to access the service, which compounded congestion at the Bulawayo office. 68 24 24