THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security is descending on Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces’ Registrar-General’s offices tomorrow to assess progress in service delivery by the department.
BY SILAS NKALA
The development comes at a time government, through the Home Affairs ministry, announced plans to turn district registry offices throughout the country into passport-issuing points to enable communities in remote areas to easily access the travel document.
Bulawayo has been one of the most flooded registry centres as it serves people from Matabeleland North and South provinces, although the Gwanda Registry Offices also issue identity and travel documents.
“Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services will be going on a tour to assess service delivery at the Registrar General’s Offices in Bulawayo and Matebeleland North,” a notice by Parliament read. According to the notice, the tour started yesterday in Mashonaland West at Chinhoyi, Kadoma and Kwekwe Registry offices.
The committee will proceed to Zibagwe Rural District Council’s Registry office in the Midlands today before going to Bulawayo and Lupane in Matabeleland North Registry offices on Wednesday.
Home Affairs deputy minister Obedingwa Mguni recently said the ministry was in the process to turn district registry offices throughout the country into passport-issuing points in a bid to bring services closer to the communities.
He said government was making efforts to secure the appropriate machinery and the process would be completed within the first quarter of the year.
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Mguni said the district officers would not issue passports, but would be used as application points for people to submit their papers and collect their passports.
He said in doing so, they would consider the districts where people were travelling long distances to apply for passports or identity documents.
In Lupane and Plumtree areas, people travel more than 100km to 200km to apply for their identity and travel documents.
