The Registrar-General of the Civil Registry Department, has warned hospitals and clinics against withholding birth confirmation records from parents as a means of forcing payment of outstanding maternity fees, saying the practice violates children’s constitutional rights and undermines accurate population data.
In an interview with The Harare Post, yesterday, Mr Henry Machiri, said some medical institutions were illegally using birth confirmation records as leverage against parents who fail to clear hospital bills, a situation he said was distorting the timely capture of national natality statistics.
“When a child is born at a medical institution, parents are issued with a birth confirmation record which they are required to present at our offices for birth registration,” explained Mr Machiri.
“However, challenges are arising where parents are failing to obtain these records due to outstanding financial obligations to some health institutions.”
He warned that such practice should stop with immediate effect, adding that hospitals should adopt alternative and lawful methods of recovering their dues without necessarily compromising birth registration or infringing on children’s rights.
“I would like to inform the public and warn medical institutions that are withholding these forms to desist from doing so,” he said.
“These birth records are provided to medical institutions by this department free of charge. All printing and administrative costs are met by the civil registry, and they should not be used as a tool to arm-twist parents into settling bills.”
The RG noted that his department continued to receive increasing reports of delayed birth registrations linked to the practice, particularly in urban areas.
He highlighted that access to a birth certificate is a constitutional right enshrined under Section 81 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which guarantees every child the right to a name, identity and birth registration.
“By withholding birth records, institutions are denying children their legal identity and basic human rights,” he said.
Without birth certificates, children may face difficulties accessing education, health services and social protection programmes, while delays in registration can also affect access to national identity documents later in life.
Mr Machiri said accurate and timely birth registration was critical for national planning in key sectors such as health, education and social services, as well as for the production of reliable population statistics.
He added that his department would engage relevant authorities to ensure compliance by medical institutions.
Efforts to obtain a comment from the Ministry of Health and Child Care were unsuccessful by the time of going to print.
