Two minor children who were undocumented since birth and rendered stateless after the Registrar General’s Office declined to issue them with birth certificates got a reprieve after the High Court ordered that they be registered.
The order comes after the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) recently went to court on behalf of the children, aged 10 and 12 who have been undocumented since birth and stateless for several years.
The RG’ Office had withheld their birth certificates by demanding that their mother’s estranged husband, who left for the United Kingdom (UK) several years ago and whose whereabouts are unknown, produce a disclaimer affidavit disowning the two girls.
The RG’s office had also asked the children’s estranged biological father to furnish them with Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test results confirming the paternity of the children.
“We have ended the statelessness dilemma of two minor children by obtaining a court order compelling the RG to register their births and issue them with birth certificates within one week,” said ZLHR in a statement.
“This came after the RG and his subordinates had refused to do so for several years.”
According to court documents, the mother, who has been struggling to process the birth certificates for her minor children, was legally married to her estranged husband in January 2004.
“Sometime in 2004, the now estranged husband reportedly left Zimbabwe for the UK with an agreement that the wife would follow him a year later. But this did not materialise and the two have been estranged for 20 years with the minor’s mother not knowing about the current whereabouts of her former husband,” said ZHLR.
“The mother of the minor children subsequently entered into a relationship with another man and gave birth to the two girls in 2012 and 2014 and this is confirmed in the birth confirmation records from Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals, where the two girls were born.”
The human rights organisation noted that over the years, the children’s mother unsuccessfully attempted to process the birth certificates for the two children.
In her recent attempt, sometime in January 2023, the mother was advised by authorities at the Bulawayo District Registry, that she must either produce a disclaimer affidavit from her estranged husband confirming “that the children are not his or a divorce decree from the High Court or (DNA) test results confirming the paternity of the children.”
ZLHR said the mother did not have any of the required documents leading to the minors living and remaining 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 and her school has demanded to be furnished with a birth certificate to facilitate her registration,” said the human rights organisation.
The mother then engaged ZLHR through the assistance of lawyers, Jabulani Mhlanga and Prisca Dube.
“The minors and their parents have now heaved a sigh of relief after High Court Judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo recently ordered the RG to register and issue the 10-year-old and 12-year-old children with birth certificates within seven days,” ZLHR said.
According to ZLHR, Justice Moyo in her ruling criticised the authorities’ conduct at the RG’s Office for refusing to register the children’s births without availing valid reasons, which she said is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution and contributing to statelessness.
“(Justice Moyo) said it 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,” said ZLHR.
“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.”
ZLHR noted that Justice Moyo emphasised the importance of the right to a birth certificate.
“It is not a right that can just be interfered with and that the RG is mandated to facilitate the process of assisting one to obtain such a critical document,” said the human rights organisation.
