KEY POINTS
- Kwekweza blocked from renewing her national ID due to Stop List.
- She had a court order allowing her to keep her ID and passport.
- Kwekweza challenges the Stop List as unconstitutional and unfair.
Human rights defender Namatai Kwekweza has revealed that she was blocked from renewing her national identification (ID) due to her inclusion on the government’s “Stop List” since 2020. Kwekweza made this discovery on Thursday when she attempted to replace her worn-out ID at the Civil Registry Department.
A “Stop List” includes names of individuals who have been deprived of certain rights, privileges, or services, or those with whom business associations are forbidden. Kwekweza, along with fellow pro-democracy activists Robson Chere and Samuel Gwenzi, was arrested earlier this year. The trio was charged with disorderly conduct, granted bail in early September, and are currently awaiting trial.
Kwekweza blocked from replacing ID despite having a court order
In a statement shared on her X (formerly Twitter) account, Kwekweza described her experience at the registry office, recounting how her documents were scrutinized after completing the ID renewal process at Market Square in Harare.
“Apparently, I am blacklisted by the government, so I cannot get an identification document. They called it a Stop List!” she wrote.
She explained that a supervisor was called after staff at the registry began to act suspiciously upon reviewing her papers. Kwekweza was then taken to a separate office, where she was informed that she was on the Stop List. When she inquired about what this meant, she was told it could be related to a security issue, an investigation, or a pending court case.
Kwekweza was directed to the Security and Investigations Department at Makombe Building, where authorities explained that she would need a court order to be removed from the list. Despite presenting a High Court order from her previous case, which did not require her to surrender her ID or passport as a bail condition, registry officials insisted that the courts had to authorize her removal from the Stop List.
Kwekweza challenges Stop List, calls it unconstitutional
According to a report by Newzimbabwe, Kwekweza shared her frustration, stating that after her acquittal following her 2020 arrest, she had already been instructed by the police to obtain written confirmation from the courts that her case was closed before she could receive her ID and passport. Despite complying with this requirement, she was still blocked from obtaining her documents.
“There was something fishy and unconstitutional about all this,” Kwekweza remarked. “Firstly, what kind of nonsense is a ‘Stop List’? Secondly, what law informs that? Even if the courts had ordered the police to take my passport as a bail condition to ensure I wasn’t a flight risk in 2020, did the same order say I should be denied an ID card, which is a constitutional right?”
Kwekweza described the experience as systemic and unconstitutional, vowing to challenge the Stop List, which she believes violates her fundamental rights. She questioned the legality of denying a citizen access to an identification document, which is critical for participating in many aspects of civic life, including voting and accessing services.
Kwekweza, known for her activism and stance against human rights abuses, remains determined to confront the government over what she describes as the unconstitutional actions of the authorities.
