Report on Citizenship Law: Zimbabwe By contrast to the standard model for the independence constitutions in other British territories in Africa, and as a protection for white interests, the constitution initially allowed dual citizenship.15 Unlike the restrictions on redistribution of land for the first decade of majority rule, this provision had no special constitutional protection. In 1983, the constitution was amended to prohibit dual citizenship.16 A new citizenship law was passed in 1984, as required by the constitution, to replace previous legislation and provide for acquisition of citizenship after birth. It established detailed rules for citizenship by registration for women marrying Zimbabwean citizens and for long-term residents (registration was the only term used in the independence constitution and the citizenship act, although naturalisation had been used in previous legislation for the more discretionary procedure applied to long-term residents). It also required that Zimbabwean citizens with entitlement to another citizenship declare by the end of 1985 that they had renounced any other citizenship, or automatically lose their Zimbabwean citizenship.17 However, there was no requirement to show proof from the other country. In 1996, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe ruled in the Rattigan case that discrimination in immigration and citizenship rules for spouses violated the constitutional right of Zimbabwean women to freedom of movement.18 Following a hard-fought campaign by women’s rights groups, the government finally introduced a constitutional amendment that removed gender discrimination—but subjected a spouse (wife or husband) to the same requirements to obtain citizenship by registration as any other foreigner.19 Gender discrimination in the transmission of citizenship to children was removed for those born after the amendment came into effect. However, the previous right to citizenship for the child of a non-citizen father ordinarily resident and legally present in Zimbabwe was not extended to a child of a mother with that status; instead, citizenship based on birth in Zimbabwe was restricted to children of citizens, removing any rights that came from birth in the territory (and with no protection against statelessness even for foundlings). Citizenship by descent was still limited to one generation born outside the country, as it had been since 1979 (and before). From 2001, the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act was also amended to remove gender discrimination for adopted children.20 In September 1999, a new opposition party was formed, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). A series of controversial and violence-marred elections during the following decade made disenfranchisement on the grounds of potential dual citizenship a central focus of contention. The Registrar-General’s Department—responsible for civil registration, identity documents, citizenship and the voters’ roll—began to refuse Zimbabwean citizenship papers to people who had a potential right to another citizenship, 15 Constitution of Zimbabwe, 1979, article 8. Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Act, No.3 of 1983. 17 Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act, No.23 of 1984, section 9. Section 4 also required those applying to register as a citizen to renounce another nationality. 18 Rattigan and others v. Chief Immigration Officer, Zimbabwe, and others, 1995 (2) SA 182 (ZS). See also Simon Coldham, ‘Case Note: Devagi Rattigan and Others v. Chief Immigration Officer and Others’, Journal of African Law 38 (1994): 189–90. 19 Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.14) Act of 1996; see Welshman Ncube, ‘Defending and Protecting Gender Equality and the Family Under a Decidedly Undecided Constitution in Zimbabwe’, in The Changing Family: International Perspectives on the Family and Family Law, ed. John Eekelaar and Ronald Thandabantu Nhlapo (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 1998); Tandeka C. Nkiwane, ‘Gender, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism in Zimbabwe: The Fight Against Amendment 14’, Citizenship Studies 4, no. 3 (2000): 325– 38, https://doi.org/10.1080/713658795. 20 Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act, No.23 of 1984, section 7(5), as amended, inserted by the Children's Protection and Adoption Amendment Act, No. 23 of 2001. 16 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/1 - © 2019 Author(s) 5