Government puts human rights defender Namatai Kwekweza on ‘Stop List’ and prevents her from renewing her ID

By Staff Reporter

HUMAN rights activist Namatai Kwekweza said he has been unable to replace his national Identity document (ID) at the Civil Registry Office since 2020 after he was included on the government’s “Stop List”.

Stop List are the names of individuals who are denied certain rights, privileges, or services, or whose members of the association are prohibited from doing business.

Kwekweza was recently arrested along with two other pro-democracy activists, Robson Chere and Samuel Gwenzi.

The trio were charged with disorderly conduct, were released on bail in early September and are currently awaiting trial.

Kwekweza said in a statement on his X account that he planned to replace his worn-out ID card on Thursday when he discovered he was not allowed to do so because the government had blacklisted him.

He reportedly completed the ID change process at Market Square before learning of the restriction.

“Apparently I’ve been blacklisted by the government so I can’t get an ID. They call it a stop list!” he wrote.

“I almost believed this would be my best experience at a government documentation office; But the guys at the registrar started looking at my papers and screens strangely.”

“Then a woman, who I was told was a supervisor, was called and asked me to take my documents and follow her. He took me to a different office and I was already getting worried, I could tell something was wrong.

“At this different office I was notified that I was on the ‘Stop List’ and asked what that meant. He told me this could be due to a security issue, investigation or ongoing litigation,” Kwekweza wrote.

The activist was then referred to the Security and Investigation Department at Makombe Building, where officials told him he needed a court order to lift the embargo.

Despite submitting a High Court ruling not requiring the surrender of his ID or passport as a condition of bail, registration officials maintained the matter was beyond their control and insisted the courts should allow him to be removed from the list.

Again, after his acquittal following the arrest in 2020, police ordered Kwekweza to return to the courts and obtain written confirmation that the matter was indeed over before issuing him an ID and passport.

“There was something suspicious and unconstitutional about all this. First of all, the “Stop List” is such nonsense.

“Secondly, which law states this? Third, even though the courts had ordered the police to take my passport as a condition of bail to ensure I was not a flight risk in 2020, did the same order say that my identity card, which is a constitutional right, should be denied? Or maybe there are deeper systemic problems.

“Whatever the case may be, what happened is absolutely unconstitutional and must be challenged,” Kwekweza added.