National birth registration requirements a doorway to stateleness in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Stateleness has been and is an issue in Zimbabwe and globally. The problem is the large number of people that are stateless or potentially stateless in Zimbabwe. This Research shows that Zimbabwe has stateless persons for many reasons the biggest being failure to acquire birth certificates despite the existing national legal frameworks and regional and international instruments that the country is party to that address the right to nationality. The research investigates whether the several requirements needed to acquire a birth certificate are themselves a set back to the acquisition of a birth certificate in Zimbabwe or whether the implementing institution of those requirements i.e. the Department of the Registrar General (DRG) is also catalyst in this issue. The latter was done through interviews and a critical analysis to the Zimbabwe’s birth registration requirements to identify gaps and impediments and a critique of the Zimbabwe’s birth registration process and laws with that of some Southern African jurisdictions was done to come to conclusions.The right to nationality is the most paramount fundamental human right that is inherent to a person once they come to mother earth. It is a key that unlocks all other fundamental human rights. The majority affected by stateleness are children which in turn has an adverse effect on their right to nationality and other fundamental rights. It is also evident that there seems to be two sets of birth registration requirements, those in the Act and those from the DRG. Although it has its hindrances, the the Births and Deaths Registration Act requirements cannot be faulted as the main cause of child statelessness or its risk thereof. The research concludes that the birth registration requirements by the DRG which are inconsistent, unclear and unknown coupled with its failure to use its discretionary powers are the major barrier to birth registration.