Caroline Nalule and Anna Nambooze In the decade following independence, the Immigration Act129 exempted from immigration controls Africans as defined by the Act130. Section 2(4) of the Act, defined ''African'' to mean “a person, not being a citizen of Tanganyika, who is a member of a tribe indigenous to, Tanganyika, Kenya, Uganda, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Burundi, Rwanda or the Congo Republic (Leopoldville) and includes a Swahili but not a Somali (other than a Somali who is normally resident in any of the foregoing countries)”. In the case of Re Abdallah Salim Ali Ab-Salaam131, the applicant sought a court order prohibiting enforcement of a notice made under the Immigration Regulations 1964 -Regulation 13, which stated that he was a prohibited immigrant and ordered him to leave Tanganyika within 24 hours. He contended that he was both a citizen and an African and, therefore, was exempted from the Immigration Act by section 2(1) (a) and 2(1) (b) thereof. Evidence was adduced that his father was an Arab and his mother half-Arab and half-Mnyamwezi. However, at various times in the past, the applicant had claimed in official applications to have been born in Muscat and to be a Muscat citizen. The court held that ‘Section 1(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1961 designates persons born in Tanganyika as citizens, provided that one parent had been born in Tanganyika… Section 2(4) of the Immigration Act defines “African” as including Swahilis... Therefore, the applicant’s evidence, if believed, would prove he is a citizen. His evidence here was sufficient to overcome the force of the prior inconsistent statement he had made. Therefore, he could not be deported’132. In 1972, the 1963 Act was replaced by a new Act133 which subjected nationals of African countries to the same requirements as other foreigners. Section 30(2) defined ''alien'' to mean “a person who is not a citizen of Tanzania or a Commonwealth citizen within the meaning” of the prevailing citizenship laws or citizens from the following countries: Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Comorian Islands, French Somaliland, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea and the San Tome and Principe Islands, Spanish West Africa (comprising Ifri, Spanish Saharah, Fernando Po, Rio Irani and Moroccan Enclaves) and South Africa134. The significance of these immigration laws is that they created a class of persons who might have had the opportunity to register as citizens but never did despite continued residence in Tanzania. It could also be argued that had the jus soli provision been interpreted and applied in its literal sense, then some of these persons would actually be Tanzanian citizens by birth. The fact is, however, that they were never considered as such. Some of these persons would later be subject to expulsion and deportation when the government of Tanzania adopted a tougher stance on non-citizens or foreign nationals. One of the most notorious moments was in 2013 when ‘Operation Kimbunga’ was launched and about 65,000 persons who did not have citizenship documents but might have 129 Tanganyika Immigration Act, No. 41 of 1963. B Manby (2018), Statelessness and Citizenship in the East African Community, UNHCR, at p. 65, available at https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/66807, last accessed 10 October 2019. 131 Re Abdallah Salim Ali Ab-Salaam, Misc. Civ. 19-D-67; 15/6/67 as reported in Tanzania High Court Digest [1967] H.C.D. n.203. 132 In yet another similar case, Jama Yusuph v Minister for Home Affairs, [1990] TZHC 9; (23 July 1990); 1990 TLR 80 (TZHC), the Minister made a deportation order against the applicant claiming he was Somali. The applicant in seeking to quash the Minister’s order, adduced evidence to show that he and his mother had been born in Tanzania. The respondent did not dispute these facts. The court quashed the Minister’s decision on the grounds that the Minister had acted beyond his powers and in breach of the Immigration Act which did not empower him to deport Tanzanian citizens. The applicant had proved that he was indeed a Tanzanian citizen. 133 The Immigration Act, No. 8 of 1972. 134 Persons from these countries were exempted as non-aliens since they were recognised under the Tanganyika Citizenship Ordinance, 1961, section 4A and the fifth schedule. 130 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/6 - © 2020 Author(s) 19