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Angela Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
THE Civil Registry Department will work during weekends and public holidays during the six months mobile registration blitz set to start on Friday to enable people to acquire national documents.

The exercise will be conducted at both static and mobile sites up to the end of September. The registration offices will be open from 7AM to 7PM during weekdays and from 7am to 4pm on weekends and public holidays.

The mobile registration exercise is aimed at providing birth certificates, death certificates and national identity documents.

Civil Registry offices across the country have been saddled with a backlog of documents for some time as Zimbabweans try to get identification documents.

The exercise is crucial and will enable them to register as voters ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections. In a statement, the Civil Registry Department announced that the programme is meant to close the gap that was created by Covid-19 in issuance of documents as well as enable all eligible citizens to participate in the 2023 general election.

“The Civil Registry Department wishes to advise members of the public and all its valued stakeholders that it will be conducting a national mobile registration exercise from the 1st of April to the 30th of September 2022.

“This year’s Mobile Registration Exercise comes against the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic which affected the issuance of civil registration documents.

The mobile registration exercise will provide an opportunity for citizens to obtain national identity documents which enable them to register as voters in the upcoming 2023 harmonised general elections,” reads the statement.

Last week, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said although figures show that the national backlog for the documents was sitting at under one million, the Government was aware that there were some people that have not bothered to even acquire the documents due to prohibitive requirements.

He said preparatory work had started and staff was being trained after the Treasury approved the budget for the registration exercise.

“The President has always said no one should be left behind. We are going to ensure that we cover each and every part of this country.

“We had our backlog sitting at around one million but we know probably there are some people who have not even attempted to apply for these documents. We are targeting at least two million, more than double the number that we know,” he said.