News / National
MDC-T chides Mudede over dual citizenship
14 May 2017 at 10:02hrs | Views
The MDC-T yesterday criticised Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede over his remarks that the government will not seek to re-align the Citizenship Act to the new Constitution regarding the issue of dual citizenship, claiming it posed a security threat to the country.
Zimbabwe has an estimated three million of its nationals living in the Diaspora, mostly in South Africa and the United Kingdom, many of whom are now holders of dual citizenship.
Mudede on Wednesday reportedly to a Zanu-PF parliamentary caucus in Harare that the government would instead move for the amendment of the supreme law to abolish provisions allowing dual citizenship.
But MDC-T Bulawayo acting spokesperson Felix Mafa Sibanda had no kind words for Mudede, who he said was ignorant of Charter 3 (42) of the Constitution which was very clear about dual citizenship.
"One may become a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth, descent or registration. The supreme law further guarantees dual citizenship as long as your grandparents were citizens by birth. It is worrying that top civil servants want to hijack roles that are not their mandate," Sibanda said.
"We, as a party, are also worried why Registrar-General Mudede cannot retire. Did he cook his birth records or birth certificate not to age and remain static (56-year-old) grandfather? All his schoolmates have either retired or are on pension. We shall, as party, petition powers-that-be to verify Mudede's authentic date of birth as it were. We smell a rat in this particular case."
Sibanda said Mudede was not new in making remarks against the law indicating that for a long time he allegedly sheltered a controversial spirit medium, Rotina Mavhunga, who duped President Robert Mugabe's ministers that pure diesel oozed from a mountain in Chinhoyi.
"What a puzzle to be led by such a character who has bizarre past and present history. Not forgetting that he was against modern family planning methods in favour of medieval ones," Sibanda said.
"We urge the Cabinet and all sober powers- that-be to ignore Mudede's outrageous intent, for the good of peaceful co-existence as a people.
"Lastly, we are calling on Mudede to retire peacefully before investigation is undertaken to verify his authentic age as all contemporaries have long gone to retirement and are enjoying their pensions."
He added: "What outrageous utterances by a top technocrat who has forgotten his mandate because of old age. The most retrogressive and backward thinking by Mudede doesn't surprises us as MDC-T Bulawayo provincial executive, the entire membership and Bulawayo citizenry. Why should innocent Zimbabweans should be subjected to humiliation and emotional torture by bureaucrats/technocrats?"
Zimbabwe has an estimated three million of its nationals living in the Diaspora, mostly in South Africa and the United Kingdom, many of whom are now holders of dual citizenship.
Mudede on Wednesday reportedly to a Zanu-PF parliamentary caucus in Harare that the government would instead move for the amendment of the supreme law to abolish provisions allowing dual citizenship.
But MDC-T Bulawayo acting spokesperson Felix Mafa Sibanda had no kind words for Mudede, who he said was ignorant of Charter 3 (42) of the Constitution which was very clear about dual citizenship.
"One may become a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth, descent or registration. The supreme law further guarantees dual citizenship as long as your grandparents were citizens by birth. It is worrying that top civil servants want to hijack roles that are not their mandate," Sibanda said.
Sibanda said Mudede was not new in making remarks against the law indicating that for a long time he allegedly sheltered a controversial spirit medium, Rotina Mavhunga, who duped President Robert Mugabe's ministers that pure diesel oozed from a mountain in Chinhoyi.
"What a puzzle to be led by such a character who has bizarre past and present history. Not forgetting that he was against modern family planning methods in favour of medieval ones," Sibanda said.
"We urge the Cabinet and all sober powers- that-be to ignore Mudede's outrageous intent, for the good of peaceful co-existence as a people.
"Lastly, we are calling on Mudede to retire peacefully before investigation is undertaken to verify his authentic age as all contemporaries have long gone to retirement and are enjoying their pensions."
He added: "What outrageous utterances by a top technocrat who has forgotten his mandate because of old age. The most retrogressive and backward thinking by Mudede doesn't surprises us as MDC-T Bulawayo provincial executive, the entire membership and Bulawayo citizenry. Why should innocent Zimbabweans should be subjected to humiliation and emotional torture by bureaucrats/technocrats?"
Source - newsday
