Open letter to 2nd all stakeholders delegates On dual citizenship

By Jonathan Chawora and Makusha Mugabe

As Zimbabweans prepare for the 2nd All Stakeholders conference in the process towards a new constitution, we would like to draw the attention of delegates to the importance of Dual Citizenship in the new constitution.

The Dual Citizenship debate is about the Human Rights of the citizens and the proven economic benefits.

There is no reason why one Zimbabwean should deny another Zimbabwean their rights to citizenship in their land of birth and ancestry purely on the grounds that they have travelled outside the country to find work or advance schooling so that they can come and develop their mother country.

Even where they acquire citizenship in those countries, it is well-known that it is in order to be allowed to work and access more resources including loans and free education for their children.

It is not a change in loyalty, and even on the part of the countries that give them citizenship, it is not that they consider them more loyal citizens over their own countries, but that they appreciate that their country will benefit from their citizenship.

A constitution should therefore guarantee these citizens their rights which are their birthright, but also for the sake of ensuring that they do come back home and settle, and contribute to Zimbabwe’s development, which every patriot knows that Zimbabwe needs.

The constitution should not be used to allow one group of citizens to abrogate other citizens’ rights, especially as it is an open secret that many of those Zanu (PF) people who are talking against dual citizenship, have children and family members who have been educated abroad, continued to live abroad after completing their education and quietly acquired citizenship in those foreign lands.

The case of the former government Minister Kuruneri is an example that, because of their ability to abuse the system their children and relatives have remained citizens, when, under the current laws they should actually have been stripped of their citizenship.

We are simply saying let us regularise this anomally because nobody should have to hide their citizenship.It is also an issue of fairness and consistency, as well as something that Zimbabwe needs going forward in order to join the league of countries that are making economic, social and political progress.

It cannot be denied that Zimbabweans in the Diaspora played a significant role in sustaining the country economically during the worst years of political and economic turmoil in the last decade, through remittances to family members.

Many boarding schools would not have survived the economic turmoil had it not been for the remittances which allowed them to pay staff and run their schools. Many doctors would have left the country had it not been for the remittances from abroad which allowed relatives to pay for medical fees for their relatives.

This is precisely the reason why the likes of Gono and Supa Mandiwanzira made trips to the Diaspora to tap resources for economic development during the last decade. Even now all economic statistics in Zimbabwe confirm that remittences are making up a significant part of the incomes of Zimbabweans as the economy remains remains mired in failure to recover.

And simple economics dictates that if I earn my money in the UK and spend it in Zimbabwe, the country has benefitted; it improves our balance of payments and allows us to afford to buy more from outside the country and it creates jobs in Zimbabwe.

There are many countries whose economic development has been driven by the Diaspora, from Ghana, to Israel and India which is now boasting of rivalling the Silicon Valley technology centre in California.

Its citizens criss-cross the world – their travel facilitated by their dual citizenship to allow them to carry on their business conveniently for the benefit of their mother country. We hope that the patriotic delegates to the 2nd All-Stakeholders Conference will approve the Dual Citizenship proposesal in the Cocap Draft, which still leaves Parliament in a position to always make any other necessary laws.

But the Constitution should make it a fundamental right for a citizen to retain their citizenship even if they aquire other citizenships by virtue of working or living in another country.We therefore urge the two MDCs, Civic Society delegates and moderates in ZANU (PF) to stand firm on this issue for the sake of democracy and the economic development of our country.

Do not allow those amongst us who focus on the negatives and advocate national divisions and the politics of hatred, rather than the things that can make Zimbabwe a better place for all its citizens, to determine the national agenda.