Deal with rot at Zim embassy in UK

THERE is great news coming from Zimbabwe on how the government has made it “easy” to obtain identity documents, especially passports. Information communication technology (ICT) professionals are very excited about this wonderful development.

However, it is disturbing to note that what is happening at the Zimbabwean embassy in London is in sharp contrast to the latest developments at the Registrar-General (RG)’s Office in Zimbabwe, hence the need to engage the services of top notch webmasters and web developers to be on the ground for continuous updating of this great nation’s embassy websites.

My experience at the Zimbabwean embassy in UK:

My passport was due for renewal on March 4, 2022, as I envisaged to dash to Zimbabwe over the British April school holidays. I “googled” the Zimbabwe embassy and got a google business confirmation that the opening hours are from 0800hrs to 1200hrs.

I surmised that I was not the only one in need of a new passport or other related services, so I went early to dodge the long queues. I got there by 0700hrs hoping to be one of the first to be served.

At 0750hrs, an elderly gentleman opened the main entrance of the embassy and I was excited that I would be the first to be served. It was cold and I figured it would be warm inside and was ready to walk into our embassy. I was immediately advised that the embassy would open at 0900hrs.

On querying the difference in time with what was on the website and google business, I was shocked to hear that it was a ”wrong website”. The Zimbabwean embassy website is www.ZimLondon.Gov.zw (Talk about totally confusing people).

He went further to advise us to get passport photos from a shop that was five minutes away down the road. By then there was a small group of us.

We trudged to the photographer’s premises. It was a broom cupboard in a skyscraper and the cost was £10 and standard passport photo was £6. Anyway, why do I have the right to complain?

We finally got in. I queued up and waited in line. The line moved fast. When my turn came, I was met by a lady who was as polite as anyone in public service. I was given a form to fill in and told to go and make copies of my ID.

I had to go out of the building again to (a photocopying shop) perform this latest task. I returned and was directed to the payment window. I paid my fee and was directed to go to the first window again. At the first window, my paperwork was given once-over and I was directed to the fingerprint desk which was in another room.

I found an elderly Asian gentleman who was on the phone.

He assisted with the fingerprinting process and directed me to go back to window one.

I was given the passport form to fill in. Filled it in and took it back. It was given back to me once again and I was advised to send the form to Zimbabwe and someone could collect the passport for me once it was done.

I shudder to think why in this day and age should we have such a primitive mode of applying for a passport in a First World country like the UK.

The Zimbabwean government was praised by the World Bank and international organisations for implementation of some of the best electronic systems in Africa.

Why are we not implementing the same ICT systems at our embassies? What kind of image are we portraying out there?

There is a need to have a biometric system that eliminates the traditional “picture taken” methodology which is very ancient.

Zimbabwe needs a centralised database system which eliminates submission of photocopies for one’s identification documents. Get everything digitised as we embrace the paperless office.

What is baffling is why our RG’s Office would require duplicate copies of IDs, passports, marriage, birth and death certificates of what they created themselves and registered.

A clear reflection of resistance to embrace technology which makes the process less cumbersome and convenient to both the service provider and receiver. Does this mean that our RG does not have electronic copies of our identity documents on their servers?

Zimbabwe is a progressive country and should progress both internally and internationally.

Why do we have the domain www.zimLondon.Gov.zw for the Zimbabwean embassy instead of www.zimbabweembassyuk.Govzw? Are we equating our great country to a city in the UK. This is disgraceful and should be rectified with immediate effect.

Once again I want to register my gratitude to the RegistrarGeneral for a job well done at the Zimbabwean office.

Let us do the same at all our embassies so as to ensure a dignified reflection of our country to the rest of the world in line with our mantra “Zimbabwe is now open for business”.

Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi