AT least 96 491 national identity documents have been issued to citizens during the ongoing countrywide mop-up mobile registration exercise, Registrar General Henry Machiri told Parliament yesterday.
The registrar general’s department is currently conducting a mop-up national mobile registration exercise, which commenced on 1 May and will run up to July 31st.
The purpose of the exercise is to ensure that citizens are issued with national identity documents to enable them to exercise their right to vote in the forthcoming 2023 harmonised general elections. The mobile registration exercise is also focusing on issuance of birth and death certificates.
Machiri told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services that these national identity documents are being issued for free, while some of the registration requirements have also been relaxed.
At least 103 992 birth and 2 762 death certificates have also been issued during the mop-up registration exercise. “We are hoping we will capture as many people as possible. We also believe that there are some people who still do not have identity documents to enable them to register to vote,” said Machiri.
He said in addition to physical registry offices, a total of 187 mobile registration teams were deployed for the ongoing civic exercise. “The mobile registration exercise is progressing well despite late release of funds by the Treasury,” he said. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is this week expected to proclaim the date on which Zimbabweans will go for harmonised elections. —New Ziana