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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter

THE National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) has slammed the Registrar General’s (RG’s) Office in Bulawayo for lacking a human face in dealing with citizens seeking national documentation.

The is the second time for the Registrar General’s Office to be criticised for not being people oriented in dealing with national documentation seekers.

Last year, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) which was conducting a national inquiry into access to documentation, observed that some citizens were failing to access birth certificates, national IDs, death certificates due to rigidness by RG’s Office employees.

Instead, ZHRC encouraged officials to be flexible in assisting documentation seekers and evaluate each case as it comes as opposed to hiding under bureaucratic processes.

Individuals without national documents are excluded from benefitting from Government programmes such as food relief in the context of drought.

Officials at the RG’s Office have been accused of being rude and arrogant yet they are expected to assist people from all walks of life access national documents.

NPRC Commissioner Leslie Ncube, who is in charge of Bulawayo and Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South, said RG’s Office officers need to change their attitude in assisting documentation seekers.

He said access to documentation is a source of conflict for those without the requisite documents and the commission has included RG’s Office in peace building process so it can rectify its shortcomings.

Comm Ncube was speaking on the sidelines of the training of Bulawayo provincial peace committee members at a city hotel.

“If you look at the RG’s Office, the passport office, I think you are clearly aware that it has made it a nightmare to access documentation whether it’s a birth certificate, IDs or passports here in Bulawayo. It’s a key issue in Bulawayo when it comes to documentation this is why the deputy provincial registrar officer is here and the person that is responsible for issuance of birth certificates is also here. Documentation is one of the issues that are actually conflictual, you ask you self why those queues are never ending,” he said.

Comm Ncube said it made no sense that some employees at RG’s Office can dismiss documentation seekers even before they approach officials with their challenges.

He said civil servants should remember that they are guided by a Government charter that requires that they become people centred.

“We need to bring sanity in that particular office because issues to do with documentation are a right at law. We have to ensure that everyone is enabled accordingly. You should not suffer to get national documents. Even issues to do with clients’ treatment, in terms of Government charter it is always clear that they should be people centred. The RG’s Office should have values of ubuntu,” he said.

“Failure to access documentation is a source of conflict. Imagine someone waking up at 3AM and the whole week is trying to get a document that enables you to access all processes. We need to find a meaningful way to say those who are mandated to offering service delivery should know that they are not there perhaps to receive brown envelops and we need to work together to burst that.”

He said the media should actively expose the rot in RG’s Office.

Meanwhile, Comm Ncube said the commission would soon be tackling the importation of labour issue.

“I think you have heard a lot of problems on issues to do with employment in Bulawayo certain groups chasing other groups on the basis of saying locals are not being employed and so on. This committee is going to be engaging on this scope because it is a committee that is born out of a constitutional commission,” he said.

-@nqotshili