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 3.2.15 Resource Constraints of the Department of the Registrar General It was noted that resource constraints impact negatively on the operations of the DRG, thus affecting delivery of services. The challenges include lack of suitable offices; lack of Gatumba Farm sub-office in Mashonaland Central was singled out foreign currency to procure as an example of a sub-office where staff members are currently passport paper; lack of resources working under the most difficult conditions. The sub-office is for procuring and maintaining housed in an old farm house which is used as both offices and staff equipment and vehicles as well accommodation. Staff members have no access to water and as consumables such as ink, depend on water that is delivered by the Provincial office from polythene and stationery; and Bindura for all their household purposes. ZHRC Monitoring resources to upgrade an Report on Field Visits Conducted at DRG Offices in March inefficient internal network 2019. system. Resource constraints result in people being turned away without documents which could not be processed timeously due to unavailability of functional office equipment, fuel, electricity and transport. Breakdown of computers and erratic computer network affects processing of documents, for example, Gokwe North had experienced computer breakdown since February 2019 (8 months had lapsed by the date of the public hearing). Further, all the 29 sub offices in Midlands are not computerized. Resource constraints also affected the nature and quality of the DRG office infrastructure and staff accommodation82. This affected staff morale, motivation and retention on the job as the office and accommodation were sub-standard and of poor quality. For example, the ZHRC observed poor staff accommodation in Lupane83 and poor office infrastructure and staff accommodation in Birchenough Bridge (Manicaland Province). The poor conditions noted in the Birchenough Bridge DRG office were the dilapidated office equipment and space as well as staff accommodation. Office space and staff accommodation were adjacent to each other. The lack of electricity and functioning computers led to issuance of manual (handwritten) documents, which were fraught with several problems that come with manual issuance of documents. As earlier indicated in this Report, such documents will be a burden on the public to get them corrected. The ZHRC also established that the DRG personnel worked under extreme heat conditions with no fans or air-conditioners in their offices making their working environment highly demotivating. 3.3 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL BARRIERS Social and cultural norms were identified as another set of barriers in accessing identity documents. These include lack of co-operation by parents or relatives, demand for lobola payment before assistance could be given, unknown whereabouts of parents and difficulties in availing witnesses. Figure 12 below shows the break down in percentages. 82 See summary of the Monitoring Report for more details in Annexure 17. On a monitoring visit by the ZHRC to Lupane in Matabeleland North, including a visit to the the DRGs offices conducted from the 4th to the 6th of March 2019, it was observed that at least 5 officials were sharing a three bedroomed house, with some officials sharing the living room as a bedroom. Due to the living arrangements, officials are unable to live with their families or have them visit. The bad state of the houses was noted to be a health and security threat. 83 27 27