RG’s office given 7-day ultimatum to issue 2 ‘stateless’ minors with birth certificates

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) says it has ended the statelessness dilemma of 2 minor children by obtaining a court order compelling the Registrar-General (RG) to register their births & issue them with birth certificates within one week.

This came after the RG his subordinates had refused to give undocumented children identity particulars.

The 2 minor children, who are aged 10 & 12 years old, had been undocumented since birth & rendered stateless in the land of their birth for several years after RG Henry Machiri (pictured) withheld the issuance of their birth certificates by demanding that their mother’s estranged husband, confirming that the children are not his or a divorce decree from the High Court or Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test results confirming the paternity of the children.

However, she was not in possession of any of the required documents leading to the minors living and remaining as undocumented children.

Adding onto her dilemma, her 12 year-old daughter is scheduled to register for her Grade Seven examinations, which will be written later this year & her school has demanded to be furnished with a birth certificate in order to facilitate her registration.

Through the assistance of her lawyers, Jabulani Mhlanga & Prisca Dube of ZLHR, the minors & their parents have now heaved a sigh of relief after High Court Judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo recently ordered the RG to register & issue the 10 year-old & 12 year-old children with birth certificates within 7 days.

In her ruling, Justice Moyo castigated the conduct of authorities at the RG’s Office for refusing to register births of children without availing valid reasons, which she said is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution & was contributing to statelessness & was a denial of access to documentation of deserving people.

The Judge criticised the conduct of officials in the RG’s Office for giving themselves powers that are not conferred to them in terms of the law and for placing onerous requirements on parents applying for birth certificates of their children.

Justice Moyo stated that the RG does not have powers to order DNA tests among other requirements to prove paternity and emphasised that it was not the duty of the RG to enquire into and regulate the marital status of the parents applying for birth certificates for their minor children.

The Judge emphasised the importance of the right to a birth certificate & that it is not a right that can just be interfered with & that the RG is mandated to facilitate the process of assisting one to obtain such a critical document.

Zwnews