The most famous cases in which the right of a person to stand for public office has been questioned are those of Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found both states in violation of their obligations under the Charter; as they also did in the less well known but even more egregious case of John Modise of Botswana. But many cases do not reach the regional mechanisms and are challenged in national courts.
By Lukholo Mazibuko The Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Lydia Sindisiwe Chikunga, has denounced what she calls a “malicious and orchestrated” social media campaign falsely claiming she is not a South African citizen. In […]
What began as a routine government formation process after President Yoweri Museveni’s swearing-in for a new term on May 12 has thrust Uganda’s long-running citizenship debate into the national spotlight. Among the names submitted for ministerial jobs were individuals who […]
Un décret signé du général Abdourahamane Tiani retire « provisoirement » sa nationalité nigérienne à Mariama Djibrine. Comme d’autres personnalités, elle est accusée d’« intelligence avec une puissance étrangère ». Par Damien Glez Parmi la boîte à outils répressive contre […]
Action Highlights Repression, Increases Risk of Statelessness By Ilaria Allegrozzi Niger’s junta leader, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, signed on June 11 a decree provisionally stripping Nigerien nationality from Mariama Djibrine, a leading opposition figure living in exile. The measure is based […]
The controversy surrounding Dr. Lawrence Muganga’s failed vetting as Minister of State for Internal Affairs has raised a fundamental legal question that goes far beyond one individual: Can a Ugandan legally hold citizenship of three countries at the same time? […]
The committee cited the Citizenship and Immigration Act which bars holders of dual citizenship from holding offices listed in the Fifth Schedule which includes the presidency, prime minister, cabinet and ministers of state. The Parliamentary Appointments Committee has rejected the […]
The Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr Andries Nel, notes recent media articles in which Mr Carel Crafford, legal representative of Mr Roman Cabanac, the former Chief of Staff of the Minister of Agriculture, claims that several state […]
Human rights lawyer Douglas Coltart has publicly stated that he does not hold, nor is he entitled to, British citizenship, emphasising that Zimbabwe is the only country he legally considers home. Writing on X, Coltart explained that his ancestors arrived […]
By Jedi Ramalapa There is a quiet kind of violence that states are particularly good at. It does not arrive with spectacle. It comes through paperwork. Through silence. Through the slow, bureaucratic unmaking of a life. In 2018, that violence […]
Seven leading organisations fighting to end statelessness and advancing gender equal nationality rights globally and in Africa expressed serious concern today about the case of Ms. Animu A. Risasi, a former South Sudanese Member of Parliament who was arbitrarily stripped […]
A former South Sudanese lawmaker has called on the government to restore her nationality documents, months after the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that she was arbitrarily deprived of her South Sudanese citizenship and ordered the state […]
December 17, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman and Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Wednesday ordered authorities to stop withholding identity documents from citizens, including oppenents facing legal proceedings. Since the conflict began on April 15, 2023, […]