Kelly Kapianga (LCK Chambers) 2.4 The 1986 Amendment to the Citizenship Act On 19 September 1986, Parliament enacted the Citizenship of Zambia (Amendment) Act, 1986 (the “1986 Amendment”). The main changes this law introduced were first, to delete the provisions of the Citizenship Act 1975 entitling people born to established residents from becoming Zambian citizens.85 The second change it introduced was in relation to the time to be considered when a person applied for registration and to whom the requirement for residence in Zambia for 10 years applied. The 1986 Amendment changed the rule under the 1973 constitutional regime and provided that the time to be considered in computing the 10 years was the time during which a person resided in Zambia under a right conferred by an entry permit.86 What is curious is that this provision was contrary to the provisions of the 1973 Constitution which applied at the time since this Constitution empowered Parliament to provide that time spent under a permit not be considered when computing the 10 years. Third, the 1986 Amendment removed the entitlement under the Citizenship Act 1975 for a person born to a non-citizen father at the time of the person’s birth and who ceased to be a citizen to apply for re-registration.87 Another important change introduced by the 1986 Amendment was narrowing the categories of people exempted from the Board’s power to revoke citizenship under the 1973 constitutional regime. By this amendment, only people who were citizens before the commencement of the 1973 Constitution and citizens by birth or descent and born to Zambian citizens were exempt.88 2.5 The 1990 Amendment to the Citizenship Act In July 1990, Parliament enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1990 (the “1990 Amendment”).89 This Amendment removed as a ground for cessation of citizenship under the 1975 Act the fact that a person born to a Zambian citizen was simultaneously a citizen or entitled to claim alternative citizenship ceased to be a citizen on attaining the age of 21 unless they renounced their alternative citizenship or claim to alternative citizenship. 90 The 1990 Amendment provided the opposite. Such person retained Zambian citizenship unless they renounced on attaining the age of 21. Thus, a person born with two citizenships was entitled to retain both. This provision appears to have been one of the few instances (together with a citizen by marriage) in which a person could hold dual citizenship under Zambian law before 2016. It is neither clear why this amendment was introduced nor whether the possibility of dual citizenship was intended. Considering the citizenship legal regime at the time, it is more likely that the original intention was to ease the legal burden on people who bore a liability to have Zambian citizenship ceased unless they did something. Although there is no evidence to 85 Section 2 of the 1986 Amendment Section 3 of the 1986 Amendment 87 Section 4 of the 1986 Amendment deleting section 19(3) of the Citizenship Act, 1975 88 Section 5 of the 1986 Amendment amending section 22(3) of the Citizenship Act, 1975 89 The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Number 10 of 1990 90 Section 1 amending section 19(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1975 86 12 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/14- © 2020 Author(s)