Zecharias Fassil a hugely commendable side of the law in times in which the world is shocked by problems of statelessness. Reacquisition The conditions for readmission to Ethiopian nationality include renunciation of a foreign nationality. The current law on readmission reads: Article 22. Re-Admission to Ethiopian Nationality 1/ A person who was an Ethiopian national and who has acquired foreign nationality by law shall be readmitted to Ethiopian nationality if he: a) returns to domicile in Ethiopia; b) renounces his foreign nationality; and c) applies to the Authority for re-admission. In practice, however, readmission is not that common and as in a very recent case, it can be problematic. The case of a political activist is very important. Activist Jawar Mohammed, a foreigner of Ethiopian origin, has been living in the US and has American citizenship. He has been a figurehead in leading the youths of Oromia as a resistance force against the government, which in effect brought about the coming into power of a new leadership. The activist decided to join a political party, the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC). He joined the political party by claiming that he has renounced his American citizenship and has started living in Ethiopia. There is, however, an unsettled debate about him reacquiring his Ethiopian nationality. The political party argues that Jawar Mohammed is an Ethiopian national.47 The words of the law seem to be clear. However, there is a lack of practical knowledge, or what can be called an untried provision. The activist claims he has renounced his foreign nationality and has applied for re-admission and he argues that he has re-acquired his Ethiopian nationality. In this conviction Mr. Jawar Ahmed has taken a political party ID card from OFC and has been observed to participate in party activities. Much of the debate now revolves around a legal issue of whether applying for readmission as under the article amounts to reacquiring his Ethiopian nationality or whether the Agency for Immigration, Nationality and Vital Events needs to give a positive response affirming the readmission decision.48 Puzzled with this lack of clarity, the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has asked the Agency for Immigration, Vital Events and Nationality in writing if Mr. Jawar has been readmitted to Ethiopian Nationality.49 6.3. Dual nationality Ethiopia has never recognised dual nationality. The 1930 Nationality Law, the 1995 Constitution and the 2003 Proclamation on Ethiopian Nationality all provide that when an 47 See, https://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails/7711/Jawar-Mohammed-is-Ethiopian-per-Proclamation-3782003-OFC-Claims, last accessed 15 March 2020. 48 See the narratives at http://addisstandard.com/news-ofc-says-jawar-mohammed-is-ethiopian-as-electoralboard-demands-citizenship-proof-for-2nd-time/, last accessed 15 March 2020. 49 See https://www.africanews.com/2020/02/12/ethiopia-s-electoral-body-seeks-verification-of-activist-jawar-scitizenship//, last accessed 15 March 2020 and http://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/ethiopia-vote-agency-querieskey-opposition-leaders-citizenship/, last accessed 15 March 2020. 18 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/9- © 2020 Author(s)