Africa-Press – Tanzania. MULTINATIONALS with Tanzanian ancestry have requested President Samia Suluhu Hassan to review duo citizenship policy so that it becomes beneficial to the country and its citizens.
Tanzania currently does not allow its citizens to hold foreign citizenship in addition to their nationality, except in the case of a Tanzanian woman acquiring foreign nationality through marriage, or persons under 18 who acquire Tanzanian citizenship by birth or descent.
Majority of them aged between 17 and 35 years are multinationals residing in European countries like Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, UK, The Netherlands and North American countries such as USA and Canada.
Speaking on behalf of over 150 multinationals, Brian Kaiza who resides in Maryland, USA, said both his parents are Tanzanians, from Kagera region, but live at Mbagala suburb in Dar es Salaam.
He says the majority of the multinationals whose ancestry is deep rooted in Tanzania are well educated with high profile professions.
He feels they could contribute much to the development of their ancestral homeland if the duo citizenship was in place. On behalf of other multinationals, Kaiza has asked the Sixth Phase President Samia Suluhu Hassan to work with the legislatives to see how the duo citizenship can be a beneficial move to both the country and its citizens.
“We believe duo citizenship is beneficial if the country makes a better use of it,” he pointed. He said the absence of duo citizenship hurts some of them and he claimed himself as among the victims.
“I am culturally and socially Tanzania fluent in Kiswahili, but as a foreigner I am barred from inheriting my parents’ properties because I am not a Tanzanian by birth,” he explained.
He says he and his fellow youths residing in European and North American countries, but long to help their motherland Tanzania, hence the country needs to find means to enable them clear the nationality hurdles.
Joining the talks with the same sentiment is Anthony Kinabo, a resident of Chicago, US who said he and others want to come back home and serve the country, but their re-entry is denied by laws.
“We feel our President can do something to let us serve our motherland. We see Tanzania developing fast and we want to be among the players who push it forward,” said Kinabo.
Neighbours Kenya and Uganda have already embraced duo citizenship.
Duo Citizenship was tabled in the parliament by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Relations Bernard Membe, but the bill didn’t pass though the government promised to work on it after scrutiny, saying it was a sensitive matter.
