The
shortage
of
these
civil
documents
carries
far-reaching
consequences,
leaving
both
children
and
adults
unable
to
enrol
in
school,
sit
national
examinations,
secure
employment,
access
banking
services
or
obtain
passports
respectively,
effectively
undermining
their
fundamental
rights.
This
crisis,
confirmed
in
Parliament
on
February
11,
2026,
has
exposed
funding
bottlenecks
within
government,
with
officials
acknowledging
that
consumables
required
by
the
Registrar
General’s
Department
are
locally
produced
by
Fidelity
Printers
and
Refiners
but
remain
unpaid
for.
Fidelity
Printers
and
Refiners,
a
state-owned
entity
traditionally
associated
with
printing
secure
documents
and
refining
precious
metals,
manufactures
the
specialised
paper
used
for
official
civil
registration
documents.
The
shortage
came
under
scrutiny
during
a
tense
exchange
in
the
National
Assembly,
after
opposition
legislator,
Ropafadzo
Makumire,
demanded
answers
over
the
nationwide
crisis
in
issuing
civil
documents.
“Lack
of
resources
in
the
Registrar
General’s
Department
for
birth
certificates
and
identification
cards
is
something
that
has
gone
out
of
hand,”
Makumire
said.
“There
are
no
resources,
including
papers
to
print
birth
certificates,
receipt
books
et
cetera
in
the
whole
of
this
country.
What
strategies
is
the
Government
putting
in
place
to
address
this
challenge?”
The
Registrar
General’s
Department,
which
falls
under
the
Ministry
of
Home
Affairs
and
Cultural
Heritage,
is
responsible
for
registering
births
and
deaths
and
issuing
national
identity
documents,
services
that
underpin
citizenship,
voting
rights,
school
enrolment,
passport
applications
and
access
to
social
services.
Responding
to
the
concerns,
Home
Affairs
Minister,
Kazembe
Kazembe,
acknowledged
the
shortage
but
insisted
the
government
was
working
to
resolve
it.
“We
have
identified
the
problem
and
spelt
out
that
we
have
a
shortage
of
papers
to
print
birth
certificates
and
other
consumables,”
he
said.
“I
believe
the
Ministry
of
Finance
is
rectifying
that
issue
because
the
Registrar
General’s
Department,
if
they
want
money,
they
go
through
the
Treasury.”
Kazembe
suggested
the
ministry
would
seek
authority
to
retain
a
portion
of
its
own
revenue
in
future
to
avoid
similar
crises.
“This
will
enable
the
Registrar
General’s
Department
to
buy
such
things
when
they
run
short.
As
of
now,
the
money
is
directed
to
the
Treasury.
Now
we
are
engaging
the
Ministry
of
Finance
to
assist
us,”
he
said.
The
exchange
quickly
shifted
focus
to
the
Ministry
of
Finance,
Economic
Development
and
Investment
Promotion,
amid
accusations
that
centralised
control
of
revenue
was
choking
service
delivery.
Makumire
questioned
why
departments
that
generate
revenue
must
“beg”
the
Treasury
for
operational
funds.
“The
Minister
of
Finance
has
to
explain
to
us
why
they
want
these
departments
to
beg
from
them
to
get
money
so
that
they
can
do
their
work,
yet
their
Ministry
is
depositing
money
to
the
Treasury,”
he
said.
“Why
is
it
that
we
go
up
to
two
months
without
the
paper
to
print
birth
certificates?”
Deputy
Finance
Minister,
David
Kudakwashe
Mnangagwa,
defended
the
Treasury’s
processes,
outlining
how
government
revenue
is
collected
and
distributed.
“97
percent
of
it
comes
from
tax
revenue
…
income
tax,
VAT
and
all
those
taxes
that
we
pay.
That
money
goes
into
the
Consolidated
Revenue
Fund.
Then
three
percent
is
the
money
that
comes
from
non-tax
revenues,
including
Registrar
General,
ZINARA
and
other
fees
that
we
collect,”
Mnangagwa
explained.
He
said
all
collected
revenue
is
pooled
and
allocated
according
to
the
national
budget
passed
by
Parliament.
“All
the
money
that
is
collected
from
ministries
is
put
in
the
same
pot.
We
do
not
consider
where
the
money
is
coming
from.
That
is
the
money
that
is
used
to
pay
salaries
and
other
things,”
he
said.
Mnangagwa
added
revenue
collection
is
typically
lower
in
the
first
months
of
the
year,
limiting
immediate
disbursements.
“At
the
beginning
of
the
year,
the
money
is
not
enough.
In
the
first
two
to
five
months
we
normally
generate
low
revenue
to
pay
what
we
would
have
prioritised
at
the
end
of
the
previous
year.
At
the
end
of
the
year
that
is
when
we
will
be
collecting
a
lot
of
money
and
we
will
be
paying
up
some
of
the
things
that
would
not
have
been
covered,”
he
said.
However,
another
MP,
Corban
Madzivanyika
said
it
had
become
clear
that
bottlenecks
lay
within
the
Treasury.
“It
has
now
come
out
that
our
problem
pertaining
to
identification
cards
is
emanating
from
the
Ministry
of
Finance,”
he
said,
arguing
that
other
ministries
had
reportedly
received
allocations
exceeding
300
percent
of
their
budgets
in
2025
while
Home
Affairs
remained
constrained.
“Minister,
when
are
you
allocating
this
money
so
that
our
people
get
identification
cards
and
birth
certificates?”
Madzivanyika
asked.
Mnangagwa
maintained
prioritisation
lies
with
line
ministries
once
funds
are
allocated.
“The
ministries
are
the
ones
who
look
into
their
priorities
and
see
what
is
supposed
to
be
paid
first,”
he
said.
“Anything
that
comes
into
the
Ministry
of
Finance
coffers
we
will
disburse
it.
We
do
not
keep
large
sums
of
money.”
Pressed
on
when
the
crisis
would
end,
Mnangagwa
did
not
provide
a
timeline,
saying
that
disbursements
depend
on
available
revenue
flows.
Legislator,
Tendai
Nyabani,
suggested
universities
could
be
engaged
to
manufacture
the
required
materials,
citing
a
previous
shortage
of
vehicle
number
plates
that
was
resolved
through
local
innovation.
Kazembe
said
the
materials
in
question
are
already
produced
locally
but
payment
remains
the
obstacle.
“These
consumables
that
we
are
talking
about
are
produced
in
this
country
but
the
person
who
produces
them
needs
to
be
paid,”
he
said.
“The
paper
that
we
are
talking
about
is
produced
by
Fidelity
but
Fidelity
has
to
be
paid.”
This
prompted
Madzivanyika
to
press
when
that
money
would
be
channeled
to
the
Home
Affairs
Ministry
so
people
could
access
their
IDs
and
birth
certificates.
“We
understand
budgetary
constraints
but
when
are
we
going
to
get
this
problem
solved,
considering
it
is
an
attack
on
the
human
rights
of
citizens
of
this
country?”
Despite
the
heated
exchanges,
the
Temporary
Speaker
ruled
that
the
Finance
Ministry
had
sufficiently
responded
“that
if
the
money
gets
to
the
Treasury,
it
is
going
to
be
distributed.”