Zimbabwean authorities have invited pro-democracy campaigner Namatai Kwekweza to report to the Registrar-General’s Office, where she will be issued her new national identity card following what her lawyers described as an unwarranted refusal to replace her defaced national identity document.
According to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), officials at the Civil Registry Department had on 30 October 2024 refused to replace Namatai Kwekweza’s defaced national identity card, citing that she was on a “Stop List,” prohibiting her from possessing one.
This prompted Kwekweza to engage her lawyers, Tinashe Chinopfukutwa and Kelvin Kabaya from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who sent a letter on 14 November 2024 to Registrar-General Henry Machiri.
The letter protested the unlawful refusal and highlighted that Kwekweza’s right to a national identity card, guaranteed under the Zimbabwean Constitution, had been violated.
The lawyers argued that Kwekweza, as a Zimbabwean citizen, was entitled to a national identity card, regardless of any pending charges.
They also noted that even convicted prisoners are entitled to an ID card, and Kwekweza had been acquitted in 2021 of the charges that had initially led to her being placed on the “Stop List.”
The lawyers gave Machiri a 48-hour deadline to allow Kwekweza to replace her identity card, warning that failure to comply would result in legal action, with Machiri personally bearing the costs for any unnecessary litigation.
On 25 November 2024, Registrar-General Henry Machiri, through Assistant Registrar-General Ben Mpala, responded by inviting Kwekweza to report to the RG’s Office to receive her new national identity card.
Kwekweza was instructed to bring her original birth certificate, a copy of it, and a receipt for the replacement fee.
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