Ugandans Welcome Dual Citizenship Issue
Jan 20, 2004
PICTURE this scenario for a moment. You spend the vast majority of your adult life living and working in a country different from where you were born and raised.
By Stuart Price in London
PICTURE this scenario for a moment. You spend the vast majority of your adult life living and working in a country different from where you were born and raised. After many years, you acquire the nationality of the country you now call home. On returning to your country of birth, you find you require a visa to visit your ancestral roots. This is what the current law says.
With details of the Constitutional Review Commission’s (CRC) recommendations in place, one proposal holds particular significance for the thousands of Ugandans living abroad. As things stand now, dual citizenship is prohibited. If a Ugandan adopts a nationality of another country, they automatically relinquish their status as a Ugandan citizen. They have to apply, like every other foreigner or tourist, for a visa to visit their own country.
The CRC was established in February 2001 to examine some of the more contentious issues of the 1995 Constitution. Chapter 03, article 15 (1) pertaining to citizenship states “A Ugandan citizen shall not hold the citizenship of another country concurrently with his or her Ugandan citizenship.â€
The CRC, chaired by Professor Frederick Ssempebwa, has recommended allowing dual nationality. This will permit Ugandans living overseas to acquire foreign nationality while preserving their Ugandan citizenship. It also facilitates foreign investors to become Ugandan nationals if they are to stay in Uganda permanently.
Museveni has encouraged the return of Asians to Uganda after their abrupt expulsion by former dictator Idi Amin Dada. For Ugandans living in London though, the CRC proposal is welcome.
Jan Katende says he is an advocate of dual citizenship. “Uganda benefits greatly from Ugandans living abroad and in the UK. Look at the amount of money and imports we send back to Uganda. We send literally tens of thousands of pounds every week.†“In the 1980s, many Ugandans left not out of choice, but because of the war and the Obote regime. Many have been successful abroad and one day they look forward to going home. I want to be British, but also a Ugandan.â€
Dr. Godfrey Sekweyama, who first came to the UK in 1967 and has been a general practitioner (GP) of medicine since 1972, but still retains Ugandan citizenship. “It’s a good idea… Ugandans abroad should be allowed to have dual citizenship. Ugandans in the diaspora contribute to sustaining the economy. we educate our relatives, brothers, sisters, cousins by sending money for school fees,†Sekweyama says.
When a Ugandan assumes foreign nationality, they sacrifice the right to vote in their country. He adds, “Ugandans who are abroad should not be castigated. If a person is accepted in another country, then he or she has been received as law-abiding and a decent citizen.â€
Ugandans living in the diaspora annually generate an extra $600m of hard foreign currency. They deposit money in accounts in Uganda, which help to transform the country’s economy from a cash to a credit operation.
Edward Bazannye who has been working for the last four and a half years in both the UK and Uganda believes dual citizenship is a good idea. “From an economic point of view, many Ugandans organise capital here (UK) and invest it in Uganda. But when you have another nationality, you are treated as a foreigner when you go back home.†He adds that Uganda benefits greatly from this injection of foreign currency. “For me, I believe this should have been amended a long time ago.†Ugandans in the UK say dual citizenship is long overdue.
Daniel Kazibwe first came to the UK 17 years ago. “I have been to Kampala many times and have sometimes been treated differently in banks. when I show my passport as identification, I want to be treated like a Ugandan.†He says he exchanged his nationality because living in Europe as a Ugandan national, you need a visa for nearly everywhere you go, but with a British passport, this isn’t the case.
“If you want to invest to develop your country, you have to give up your British passport for a Ugandan one again. The laws are still the same as the ones of the 1970s. Things have to change, things have to be modernised,†Kazibwe says.
Ends
PICTURE this scenario for a moment. You spend the vast majority of your adult life living and working in a country different from where you were born and raised. After many years, you acquire the nationality of the country you now call home. On returning to your country of birth, you find you require a visa to visit your ancestral roots. This is what the current law says.
With details of the Constitutional Review Commission’s (CRC) recommendations in place, one proposal holds particular significance for the thousands of Ugandans living abroad. As things stand now, dual citizenship is prohibited. If a Ugandan adopts a nationality of another country, they automatically relinquish their status as a Ugandan citizen. They have to apply, like every other foreigner or tourist, for a visa to visit their own country.
The CRC was established in February 2001 to examine some of the more contentious issues of the 1995 Constitution. Chapter 03, article 15 (1) pertaining to citizenship states “A Ugandan citizen shall not hold the citizenship of another country concurrently with his or her Ugandan citizenship.â€
The CRC, chaired by Professor Frederick Ssempebwa, has recommended allowing dual nationality. This will permit Ugandans living overseas to acquire foreign nationality while preserving their Ugandan citizenship. It also facilitates foreign investors to become Ugandan nationals if they are to stay in Uganda permanently.
Museveni has encouraged the return of Asians to Uganda after their abrupt expulsion by former dictator Idi Amin Dada. For Ugandans living in London though, the CRC proposal is welcome.
Jan Katende says he is an advocate of dual citizenship. “Uganda benefits greatly from Ugandans living abroad and in the UK. Look at the amount of money and imports we send back to Uganda. We send literally tens of thousands of pounds every week.†“In the 1980s, many Ugandans left not out of choice, but because of the war and the Obote regime. Many have been successful abroad and one day they look forward to going home. I want to be British, but also a Ugandan.â€
Dr. Godfrey Sekweyama, who first came to the UK in 1967 and has been a general practitioner (GP) of medicine since 1972, but still retains Ugandan citizenship. “It’s a good idea… Ugandans abroad should be allowed to have dual citizenship. Ugandans in the diaspora contribute to sustaining the economy. we educate our relatives, brothers, sisters, cousins by sending money for school fees,†Sekweyama says.
When a Ugandan assumes foreign nationality, they sacrifice the right to vote in their country. He adds, “Ugandans who are abroad should not be castigated. If a person is accepted in another country, then he or she has been received as law-abiding and a decent citizen.â€
Ugandans living in the diaspora annually generate an extra $600m of hard foreign currency. They deposit money in accounts in Uganda, which help to transform the country’s economy from a cash to a credit operation.
Edward Bazannye who has been working for the last four and a half years in both the UK and Uganda believes dual citizenship is a good idea. “From an economic point of view, many Ugandans organise capital here (UK) and invest it in Uganda. But when you have another nationality, you are treated as a foreigner when you go back home.†He adds that Uganda benefits greatly from this injection of foreign currency. “For me, I believe this should have been amended a long time ago.†Ugandans in the UK say dual citizenship is long overdue.
Daniel Kazibwe first came to the UK 17 years ago. “I have been to Kampala many times and have sometimes been treated differently in banks. when I show my passport as identification, I want to be treated like a Ugandan.†He says he exchanged his nationality because living in Europe as a Ugandan national, you need a visa for nearly everywhere you go, but with a British passport, this isn’t the case.
“If you want to invest to develop your country, you have to give up your British passport for a Ugandan one again. The laws are still the same as the ones of the 1970s. Things have to change, things have to be modernised,†Kazibwe says.
Ends