Report on Citizenship Law: Tanzania the Afro-Shirazi Union (ASU, later the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP)) was dominated by Africans. After much protracted negotiation, political machinations and electoral contestations that saw power shift from ASP to ZNP, Zanzibar negotiated for its independence from the British. At a conference held in London in September 1963, the date for Zanzibar’s independence was set, the Sultan would be the Head of State, and one of the key provisions curtailing his powers was that he would no longer make laws independent of the legislature. On 10 December 1963, Zanzibar became an independent state, but racial divisions between Arabs and Africans remained unabated34. 2.2 Post-colonial period 2.2.1 Tanganyika The 1961 independence Constitution of Tanganyika, which was appended to the second schedule of the Tanganyika (Constitution) Order-in-Council,35 contained elaborate citizenship provisions that were a standard for all former British colonies and territories. Citizenship could be acquired automatically by reason of birth or descent, by registration which was time-bound (covered under transitional provisions), and through on-going naturalisation procedures. • Automatic citizenship acquisition at the date of independence: i). By birth; applicable to any person born in Tanganyika and was on 8 December 1961, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British protected person; provided that either of his or her parents was born in Tanganyika36. ii). By descent: applied to a person born outside of Tanganyika, but whose father became a citizen of Tanganyika or would, but for his death, have become a citizen by birth on Tanganyika’s independence37. • Automatic citizenship acquisition for those born after independence: i). By birth: a person born in Tanganyika after 8 December 1961 would be a citizen by birth. The only exceptions were i) if neither of his or her parents was a citizen and the father was a foreign diplomat; or ii) the father was an enemy alien and the birth occurred in a place then under enemy occupation38. ii). By descent: a person born outside Tanganyika after 8 December 1961 would become a citizen if his father was a citizen of Tanganyika provided that the father’s citizenship was neither acquired under this very provision nor as a 34 For a detailed account on Zanzibar politics particularly in the lead up to independence and the racial tensions and divisions, see A E Frontera (1969), The Mirror of the Future? The Study of the Union of a Minor Power with a Greater Political Entity, Zanzibar and Tanganyika: Masters Thesis, Duquesne University, p. 60-83. 35 Published on 27 November, 1961 vide General Notice No. 415 of 1961 and became effective immediately before 9 December 1961 36 Tanganyika Constitution 1961, section 1(1). Years later and just before the current citizenship law came into force, the Court of Appeal had to determine the issues of an applicant’s citizenship under the Act. In AttorneyGeneral and two others v Aman Walid Kabourou, (Judgment of 31 January, 1995, Civil Appeals No. 32 and 42 of 1994) the Court of Appeal reaffirmed that there were three factors which determined citizenship by birth under the 1961 Act. These were, one, being born in Tanganyika by 8 December 1961; two, being a citizen of the UK and colonies or being a British protected person on 8 December 1961; and, three, having at least one parent born in Tanganyika. 37 Tanganyika Constitution 1961, section 1(2). 38 Tanganyika Constitution 1961, section 3. 6 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/6- © 2020 Author(s)