Tigranna Zakaryan However, Section 24 of UCICA relating to cancellation of citizenship based on dual citizenship was not amended with the other provisions and remains in force. Section 24 of UCICA requires any person who acquired Ugandan citizenship through means of registration or naturalisation to provide documentation within a ninety-day period proving the renunciation of any other nationality: “the registration or naturalisation of that person as a citizen of Uganda shall be cancelled; and he or she shall be taken never to have been so registered.” 3.3.3. Deprivation of citizenship Article 14 of the Constitution and Section 17 of UCICA provide that the National Citizenship and Immigration Board has the right to deprive a person of their citizenship (if it had been acquired through registration) based on the following criteria: the voluntary acquisition of the citizenship of another country (subject to the Constitutional Amendments Act of 2005 which grants the opportunity of dual nationality in some cases; see further section 3.4 of this report), voluntary services in armed/ security forced in a country which is either hostile or at war with Uganda; the initial acquisition of citizenship through fraud; or committing espionage against Uganda (Article 17, UCICA, as amended). For naturalised citizens, the Board has the ability to apply the same criteria as for those who are registered citizens, in addition to the individual maintaining a fraudulent naturalisation certificate (Article 18, UCICA, as amended). 3.4 Dual citizenship and the rights of citizens living abroad The African diaspora has grown globally through both formal and informal migration trends, as wells as through the involuntary legacy of slavery. Following the independence era, newly independent countries throughout Africa commonly did not allow dual nationality based on the assumption that this would allow citizens to maintain two loyalties, and more particularly, encourage maintaining loyalty to former colonial powers.35 However, through the lobbying efforts of the African diaspora, significant political pressure was generated in their origin counties to allow for dual nationality and disproved the popular thought that dual nationality would generate disloyalty to either State.36 In this context, the growth of the Ugandan diaspora following its independence has led to sizeable communities of Ugandans living abroad. The Constitutional Amendments Act of 2005 repealed the restriction on dual citizenship formally put in place by the Uganda Constitution and Citizenship Act of 1962, and retained by the 1995 Constitution and 1999 Citizenship and Immigration Control Act. The Constitution Amendment Act of 2005 changed this position, although the law was not amended to bring it into line with new provisions until 2009. The 2005 Constitutional amendments substitute Article 15 of the 1995 Constition which previously prevented dual nationality with the following, “A citizen of Uganda of eighteen years and above, who voluntarily acquires the citizenship of a country other than Uganda may retain the citizenship of Uganda subject to this Constitution and any law enacted by Parliament” [Article 6, Section (a)(1)]. Additionally, “A person who is not a citizen of Uganda may, on acquiring the citizenship of Uganda, subject to this Constitution and any law enacted by Parliament, retain the citizenship of another country” [Article 6, Section (a)(2)]. Further, the Amendment goes on to permit Parliament to adopt legislation for the retention of 35 36 10 Bronwen, Manby, Citizenship in Africa: the Law of Belonging. Hart Publishing, 2018. Ibid. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/8 - © 2020 Author