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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, [email protected]

REGISTRAR General, Mr Henry Machiri, has said the recent electronic system breakdown in Civil Registry Department will not stop service delivery as they have a fallback manual option to ensure the public is assisted.

This comes as the electronic system used in the issuance of identity documents has been down for a week with the department saying the Government was working round the clock to restore the efficient services.

There have not been any disruptions in the issuance of various documents to members of the public as the process is now being done manually.

In a brief interview, Mr Machiri said there is no cause for panic as members of the public will continue accessing essential documents such as birth and death certificates, national identity cards, passports, or any other assistance they may seek from the department.

“Yes, the system is down but that is not stopping us from serving members of the public. Remember before we went electronic, we had our manual system and that is our fallback now,” he said. 

“We are doing as much as we can to make sure members of the public are not delayed during this period but I can assure the nation that Government, at the highest level is working flat out to make sure the system is back online.” 

In May the Civil Registry Department launched a nationwide three months registration exercise in which members of the public were being assisted to easily access birth and death certificates, national identity cards as well as livestock brand certificates. The exercise is set to end on July 31.

A total of 129 mobile registration teams were set up across the country and are working from 7am to 5pm during the week while for static offices they are working from 7am to 7pm. On weekends and public holidays, the documents will be issued between 7am and 4pm.