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New constitution will prevent dual citizenship holders from voting - Mavhinga
04 May 2012 at 05:47hrs | Views
The new constitution for Zimbabwe will still prevent individuals with dual citizenship from voting in the next election,' leading pro-democracy activist Dewa Mavhinga said on Wednesday.
Millions of Zimbabweans have over the years been denied the right to participate in national elections in Zimbabwe, having acquired citizenships in their countries of exile.
Zimbabwe prohibits those with dual citizenship from voting. The new draft that was presented to GPA negotiators on Monday by COPAC still contains a clause that revokes Zimbabwean citizenship, if it is discovered the holder is a citizen of another country
'If a person acquired Zimbabwean citizenship by birth, having been presumed to be such a citizen as provided in section 3, the citizenship may be revoked if the person's nationality or parentage becomes known, and reveals that the person was a citizen of another country,' reads a section from Chapter 3 on Citizenship.
Mavhinga said it was clear there was no agreement on citizenship and that the current Lancaster House constitution and the new draft favours the ZANU PF position to prohibit dual citizenship.
It is expected that most of the contentious issues, like dual citizenship, will only be dealt with after a new president has assumed office. 'Although a detailed legal analysis of the constitutional draft is pending there is already emerging concern regarding a powerful executive president and the fact that many of the unresolved issues are expected to be resolved by three political principals.
'The National Constitutional Assembly has also noted with concern that the MDC formations had made too many concessions in this draft â€" such as on the executive presidency, prohibition of dual citizenship, prohibition of gay rights, prohibition of devolution, among other issues,' Mavhinga said.
On Tuesday COPAC co-Chairman Douglas Mwonzora said the issue of dual citizenship would be left to an Act of Parliament to determine.
Millions of Zimbabweans have over the years been denied the right to participate in national elections in Zimbabwe, having acquired citizenships in their countries of exile.
Zimbabwe prohibits those with dual citizenship from voting. The new draft that was presented to GPA negotiators on Monday by COPAC still contains a clause that revokes Zimbabwean citizenship, if it is discovered the holder is a citizen of another country
'If a person acquired Zimbabwean citizenship by birth, having been presumed to be such a citizen as provided in section 3, the citizenship may be revoked if the person's nationality or parentage becomes known, and reveals that the person was a citizen of another country,' reads a section from Chapter 3 on Citizenship.
Mavhinga said it was clear there was no agreement on citizenship and that the current Lancaster House constitution and the new draft favours the ZANU PF position to prohibit dual citizenship.
It is expected that most of the contentious issues, like dual citizenship, will only be dealt with after a new president has assumed office. 'Although a detailed legal analysis of the constitutional draft is pending there is already emerging concern regarding a powerful executive president and the fact that many of the unresolved issues are expected to be resolved by three political principals.
'The National Constitutional Assembly has also noted with concern that the MDC formations had made too many concessions in this draft â€" such as on the executive presidency, prohibition of dual citizenship, prohibition of gay rights, prohibition of devolution, among other issues,' Mavhinga said.
On Tuesday COPAC co-Chairman Douglas Mwonzora said the issue of dual citizenship would be left to an Act of Parliament to determine.
Source - SW Radio Africa
