Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government is considering the possibility of granting special status to Tanzanians living abroad to enable them access important services and increase their contribution to the country’s development.
The Minister for Foreign Affair and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Liberata Mulamula informed the August House on Tuesday while winding up the debate for her ministry’s 2022/2023 budget estimates.
She said the special status would help to recognize the members of diaspora and resolve some challenges related to policy and laws which have been affecting their contribution to the country’s development.
“We have been working on this option after realizing that the issue of duo citizenship needs national dialogue and cannot be realized within a short time,” she said.
The Minister explained that basing on the Citizenship Act of 1995, the issue of duo citizenship needs broad national dialogue, noting that the government had started the process by involving various stakeholders including members of diaspora themselves in order to arrive at a decision which will be beneficial to all Tanzanians living abroad.
The Citizenship Act of 1995 stipulates that a Tanzanian shall cease to be a citizen if, having attained the age of 18, he or she acquires citizenship of another country voluntarily other than by marriage.
She cited Gulf countries saying if Tanzania will grant duo citizenship to its citizens living in those countries then they will be denied citizenship of their new countries of residence.
The Minister said that the government conducted a survey in countries that do not recognize duo citizenship to learn whether they had other option and found that they have granted their foreign citizen abroad with special status.
Special status is like a green card being used in the US where non-citizen is given to allow them to live and work lawfully in the country.
She named other countries which use green card as India and Pakistan among others. Responding to a question raised by Kawe MP Bishop Josaphat Gwajima (CCM) on the importance of granting duo citizenship to Tanzanians living abroad, the minister said that there are more than 100 countries in the world that do not recognize duo citizenship.
“You have told us that there are 75 countries in the world that allow duo citizenship but let me inform you that in fact there are more than 100 countries that do not recognize the status thus it is not only Tanzania,” she said.
Earlier, Mr Gwajima said if the government will allow duo citizenship, it will enable Tanzanians living abroad to work in various countries to increase their contribution to the national development.
Tabling her ministry’s budget estimates for 2022/2023 financial year, Amb Mulamula said her office will continue putting in place an enabling environment to encourage diaspora participation to the development of the country.
The Minister said the government has been taking various steps to encourage diaspora to contribute to the development of the country. “
Following such efforts the diaspora contribution (remittances) has continued to increase from 400 million US dollars in 2020 to 569.3 million US dollars in 2021” according to the Bank of Tanzania.
She said that Tanzanian citizens living abroad have also invested 3.9bn/- in UTT AMIS and purchased houses worth 2.3bn/- from the National Housing Corporations (NHC) and Hamidu City Park Project in Kigamboni, Dar es Salaam.
For More News And Analysis About Tanzania Follow Africa-Press
