Report on Citizenship Law: Zimbabwe the second round in June. Talks mediated by SADC led to the formation of a unity government between ZANU-PF and the MDC on 30 January 2009.27 The constitutional amendment allowing for the installation of a government of national unity also revised the citizenship provisions.28 The amendments extended a right to citizenship to children born in Zimbabwe with one parent or grandparent who is or was a citizen (by birth or descent only), and removed the restriction on transmission of citizenship to children born outside the country.29 After much argument, the final version of the 2009 constitutional amendments did not generally prohibit dual citizenship, though they permitted parliament to adopt legislation to do so, and in particular to provide for loss of citizenship by descent or registration (only). The Registrar-General’s Department continued to apply the former interpretation that dual citizenship was prohibited for all, despite a High Court judgement that the Citizenship Act’s provisions requiring a citizen from birth with dual citizenship to renounce the other citizenship were in breach of the amended constitution.30 The coalition finally succeeded in agreeing a new constitution, approved by referendum in March 2013. 3. The current citizenship regime The 2013 constitution retained many of the changes on citizenship that had already been made in 2009: in particular, the provisions on citizenship by birth and descent were the same.31 Children born in the country acquire citizenship if one parent or grandparent is or was a citizen by birth or descent, and transmission of citizenship to children born outside Zimbabwe is not limited to one generation. The constitution did not restore the right to citizenship removed in 1996 for children born in Zimbabwe of a parents who is ordinarily and legally resident; nor was this possibility under debate. All citizens are stated to be “equally entitled to the rights, privileges and benefits of citizenship and are equally subject to the duties and obligations of citizenship”. 32 As of the end of 2018, the government had not introduced legislation to amend the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act 1984 to reflect the changes made by the 2013 Constitution, though a new law had finally been promised and a draft published (though not introduced to 27 The MDC had split into two factions by this time; both factions joined the unity government. Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.19) Act, 2009. The Citizenship Act (last amended in 2003), however, continued to quote the pre-1996 version of the constitution. 29 A child born in Zimbabwe was a citizen by birth if either parent was a citizen (of any type), or if any grandparent was a citizen by birth or descent (that is, not if the grandparent was only registered as a citizen). A child born outside Zimbabwe was also a citizen by birth if one of the parents was a citizen (of any type) and “ordinarily resident” in Zimbabwe or working for the state or an international organisation. A child born outside Zimbabwe was a citizen by descent if either parent or any grandparent was at the time of the birth a citizen “by birth or descent” or if either parent was a citizen by registration. 30 Piroro v Registrar General 2011(2) ZLR 26 (H). 31 Bronwen Manby, ‘Draft Zim Constitution Fails Citizenship Test’, OSISA (blog), 11 October 2012, http://www.osisa.org/law/blog/draft-zim-constitution-fails-citizenship-test.html. 32 Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.20) Act, No. 1 of 2013, Article 35(2). 28 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/1 - © 2019 Author(s) 7