The Gukurahundi, the massacre of Ndebele Zimbabweans in the early 1980s by the government of Robert Mugabe, continues to cast a long shadow.
It is estimated that about 20 000 Ndebele were killed by government forces, notably the notorious North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade.
However, not all those who were killed were officially declared dead, and so death certificates were not issued. This has now made it difficult for their children to be granted their own documents.
Jestina Mukoko, of the Zimbabwe Peace Project told the BBC: ‘Without a death certificate of a parent it’s not possible for a child to be able to get a birth certificate, and without a birth certificate a child cannot get an identity document.’
This has resulted in a large number of people – the children and grandchildren of the victims of the atrocity – not being able to access government documents and being deprived of many of the rights of citizens, such as being able to get a passport or to vote.
According to Mukoko, there are alternative ways to register as a citizen but for many people the costs and distances involved are prohibitive.