Govt rejects dual citizenship

THE Government will not seek to re-align the Citizenship Act with the new Constitution, but will instead move for the amendment of the supreme law to abolish provisions allowing dual citizenship.

This was said by Registrar General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede while making a presentation on the Constitution and dual citizenship to the Zanu-PF parliamentary caucus at the party’s headquarters yesterday.

The new Cons t i tut i on allows for one to hold dual citizenship and Mr Mudede said this posed a number of security challenges to the country.

“As the Ministry of Home Affairs, we have decided that we are not going for realignment (of the Citizenship Act to the Constitution), but for amendment,” he said.

Mr Mudede said some of the challenges that the dual citizenship posed included cases of tax evasion, evasion from justice, involvement in cases of human trafficking, international terrorism and problems in immigration control.

He said Sections 36, 37 and 43 of the Constitution had to be amended.

Mr Mudede queried why provisions requiring foreigners who acquired Zimbabwe’s citizenship to take an oath of loyalty were removed in the new supreme law.

Added Cde Charamba: “At 93, there is something that happens to the eyes and the President cannot suffer bright lights. If you look at his poise, he looks down, avoids direct lighting. In the case of Mandela, if you remember, you were not allowed to even use flashes whenever he was in the room. That is what happens at 93 and Mandela, I do not think lived as long as the President did. Let us disabuse ourselves.

“For the rest of his body, the President gets attended to here. It is just that particular area and even then, it was not his decision, it was the decision of opticians who suggested that with the state of his age, with the state of the problem he was having visually, it was important that he gets advanced attention which is obtainable in Singapore.”

Cde Charamba said there was nothing untoward in the President seeking specialised attention in Singapore.

“And by the way, that is an international health dispensing institution,” he said. “You meet First World leaders there who are coming for medical assistance in Singapore.

“So, really, there is nothing untoward in the President of Zimbabwe, who has an African Zimbabwean physician, going abroad for specialised treatment the same way that there won’t be anything untoward in Mai Charamba leaving this country to go to South Africa for specialised attention.

“That does not take away the fact that we have an excellent medical services provision in this country. We have a number of specialised doctors, who are manning our institutions.”

Cde Charamba said indeed there were challenges relating to provision of health services in the country, like cost of access.

“That is a fact that we have to address as a Government,” he said. “I happen to know that it is a burning issue with Cabinet. Let us not get these easy explanations and easy answers.

“There is nowhere in the world where a Head of State or any other citizen does not go elsewhere for specialised treatment. It all depends on the level of development and we are a developing country. There is that level of intervention we have to expect, but that is only in respect of the eyes.”