THINKING ALOUD: Tanzania’s status of the law on dual citizenship
Published: 21/Feb/2018
Source: The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
It was very good and welcoming news, early February 2018 when President John Magufuli launched the e-passport.
The Department of Immigration should be congratulated and I give credit for this initiative. The e-passport will tremendously improve security and misuse with evil intention of this important document.
Another long-standing issue within the department that needs to be resolved is about dual citizenship. There is a need to close this matter. When you are outside the country there is a tendency to informally meet with your fellow Tanzanians and East Africans. In most of these gathering the Kenyans always ask us why Tanzanians are not granted dual citizenship, and we have no substantive answer. The Tanzanian Diaspora in America is huge and there is a lot of potential of development but I think it becomes very difficult psychologically to invest in your birth country as a foreigner.
The issue of dual citizenship has been thoroughly researched thus enacting a law on dual citizenship is accompanied by evidence from the study done since 2004.
The Law Reform Commission undertook an in-depth study and it is almost 10 years since the report and recommendations were submitted to the government. The big question is: are the ten years which have elapsed since the government received the Law Commission recommendations on this matter, not enough time for that purpose?
Read further: https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/oped/thinking-aloud-tanzania-s-status-of-the-law-on-dual-citizenship-2624288