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Ashley Phiri, [email protected]

FOR the first time in almost six decades, Mr Innocent Nyoni of Robert Sinyoka Village on the outskirts of Bulawayo can proudly call himself a citizen in every sense of the word.

The 59-year-old man, who spent his entire life without identity documents, was finally issued a birth certificate and national identity card, an emotional moment that brought him to tears.

Born in Plumtree in 1965, Mr Nyoni had spent his life as a man without an official identity. Without documentation, he was unable to access essential services such as formal education, employment, banking, and healthcare. For decades, he felt like a ghost in his own country.

His troubles began at birth when his parents, who were not legally married, failed to register his birth. When his father passed away while he was still young, his chances of acquiring documentation diminished further.
He spent his early years doing menial jobs in Plumtree before later moving to Bulawayo in search of opportunities. But without an identity card, life in the city was an uphill struggle.

“I watched my peers go to school while I stayed at home. I couldn’t even write properly, let alone my own name. As I grew older, I couldn’t find formal work. Employers would turn me away, asking for an ID I never had,” Mr Nyoni recalled.

“Even if I secured the menial jobs, my employers would exploit me. I worked for 15 years as a gardener for a family in Burnside, and sometimes I would go for months without being paid.”

For years, he relied on menial jobs, working as a gardener and performing odd tasks to survive. The humiliation of being treated as a foreigner in his own country weighed heavily on him. He could not open a bank account, or travel freely.

Hope finally came through last Tuesday when among a group of undocumented people who benefited from the ongoing mobile registration blitz. The Civil Registry Department is running a mobile registration exercise to assist those without documents, mostly targeting vulnerable children and child-headed families in St Peter’s, Robert Sinyoka, and Methodist Village in Ward 17, on the outskirts of Bulawayo.

The 10-day exercise, which ends tomorrow, is in response to appeals made by residents during last year’s hearings conducted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs, Security Services and War Veterans Affairs. The hearings revealed that many residents in peri-urban areas lacked essential documentation, which hindered their access to education, healthcare and other social services.

Many people, especially in rural areas, still struggle with documentation issues due to various circumstances, including lack of birth records and complex bureaucratic processes.

Mpilo Central Hospital

Working closely with the Pumula legislator, Ms Sichelesile Mahlangu, Mr Nyoni was assisted in tracking down his mother’s records at Mpilo Central Hospital to verify his citizenship. After months of waiting, he was finally handed his birth certificate and national identity card.

The moment he received his ID card was overwhelming. Tears welled up in his eyes as he clutched the small plastic card, proof that he finally existed in the eyes of the state.

“This is the happiest day of my life. I never thought I would live to see this day. Now, I can be someone. I can vote, I can travel, and most importantly, I can live without fear,” he said.

For years, Mr Nyoni attempted to obtain his ID and birth certificate, only to be met with obstacles at every turn, even becoming a victim of scammers posing as registry officials.

“My parents were not educated and they did not see the importance of getting me a birth certificate until the untimely death of my father. I had been going to the registry office for years, submitting fingerprints but my efforts were not yielding any fruits,” he said.

“I remember at one time, I was scammed by people pretending to be from the civil registry department and I lost R 600 because I was very desperate to be documented.”

Mr Nyoni, a father of five, said his woes cascaded to his children until he was forced to use his wife’s documents to acquire documents for them

“I have five children, two from a previous marriage and three from my current one. All my children bear the surnames of their mothers because they needed birth certificates to be able to go to school,” he said.

“Culturally it is not right for them to use their mother’s surnames and it is something that has been bothering me for a long time. The children have also been bothering me to right this wrong because they believe it was giving them bad luck.”
Mr Nyoni is now eager to start a new chapter in his life. He hopes to apply for formal employment and even open a bank account, things that were previously impossible for him.

“I am 59, but I feel like I have just been born today. Now I can also sign up for various programmes that Government and non-governmental organisations roll out to assist people in our area,” he said with a smile.
Human rights lawyer Mr Nqobani Sithole emphasised the importance of streamlining the registration process to prevent cases like Mr Nyoni’s.

“It is a fundamental human right to have identity documents. The state has an obligation to ensure that every citizen, regardless of their background, can access these essential records without facing unnecessary obstacles,” he said.

“We need policies that make it easier for people to obtain documents rather than living in statelessness for decades. Section 35 (3) states that every citizen has a right to have birth certificates and other identity documents issued by the State.”