Source: The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
By Rosemary Mirondo
Published: 6/Aug/2021
Dar es Salaam. The question of dual citizenship remains a thorny subject in Tanzania.
During an exclusive interview with Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) yesterday, Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation minister Liberata Mulamula shed further light saying she was hopeful that by the end of 2021 the matter would take a new turn.
She said the government was formalizing a way to legally recognize persons born in Tanzania, who are now citizens of another country.
Ms Mulamula said her ministry was currently preparing a strategic policy for acknowledging such persons, aiming for it to be law and they had requested Parliament to endorse it.
“Earlier it was perceived that the issue of dual citizenship was a matter best tackled in the constitution but later it was identified as a legal issue, with countries like Ethiopia and India having it embraced in their legislations, and not constitutionally, because it entails a long process and could also face challenges when a new Head of State is not in favor of it,” she said.
“Our failure to adopt dual citizenship is only denying us foreign currency as well as depriving our own people some of their rights” said Ms Taska Mbogo (Special Seats).