Report on Citizenship Law: Zambia Zambia was a British protectorate and the people native to it were British Protected Persons whose lives and status continued being governed by their customary laws. People born to British Protected Persons did not become British subjects unless their father was a British subject.11 In 1948, the British Nationality Act converted all British subjects into ‘Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies’. In 1954, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Order-in-Council created a federation of Nyasaland (today’s Malawi), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), which were protectorates, and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), an independent Commonwealth country.12 In 1957, the Federation enacted legislation providing ius soli citizenship of the federation for those born before or after the date of creation of the Federation, and for other transitional provisions.13 Following this, the British Nationality Act, 1958 was enacted, amending the British Nationality Act, 1948. According to this statute, inhabitants of present-day Zambia who were citizens under the laws of the Federation were eligible to apply for UK citizenship by virtue of their occupation of the Federation.14 However, most residents of Northern Rhodesia remained British Protected Persons.15 Zambia’s independence from Britain brought with it significant changes to the way in which citizenship is conceived. First, it resulted in the dissolution of the Federation. Second, citizenship from then onwards was viewed from a Zambian perspective. Since independence, citizenship in Zambia spans four constitutional regimes: the independence constitution of 1964 and Citizenship Act adopted the same year; the 1973 Constitution, and new Citizenship Act that entered into force in 1977; the 1991 Constitution, and amendments to the Citizenship Act enacted in 1994; and finally, the 2016 Constitution and a new Citizenship Act adopted the same year. These constitutional regimes have had varying purposes relative to the issue of citizenship. Although the categories of citizenship, and the manner of acquisition and loss of citizenship, have remained fairly stable, the constitutional changes have made some changes to the concept. These are discussed below. The most important changes have been in relation to the role of birth in the territory in providing rights to Zambian citizenship, and the removal gender discrimination. Zambia’s laws comprise the Constitution, Zambian statutes, English Statutes whose application is extended to Zambia, common law and the principles of equity.16 The issue of citizenship in Zambia is regulated by the Constitution and relevant statutory provisions. Principles of equity and common law can be referred to when dealing with aspects of citizenship not adequately dealt with by either the Constitution or statutes. 2.2 Post-Independence: The 1964 Constitution Because of Zambia’s history as a British protectorate, its legal system is modelled after the English system. The independence constitution was negotiated with the British according to 11 Bronwen Manby, Citizenship in Africa 45 Bronwen Manby, Citizenship in Africa, 47 13 Bronwen Manby, Citizenship in Africa, 47 14 Section 1(1) of the British Nationality Act, 1958 as read with section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act, 1948 15 Fransman’s British Nationality Law, 1068 16 Article 7 of the Constitution of Zambia as amended in 2016 12 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/14 - © 2020 Author(s) 3