Report on Citizenship Law: Uganda
any member of a nonindigenous group and is limited to only the children of citizens by birth
(i.e., those who are members of an ‘indigenous community’).
The 1995 Constitution also reformulated the definition for citizenship entitlement
through registration and naturalisation, as well as the parameters that constitute the loss of
citizenship.
The 1995 Constitution created the National Citizenship and Immigration Board. This
entity holds various responsibilities, among which include granting and cancelling citizenship
by registration and naturalisation [Article 16(3)(c)], among other activities.
3.2. Acquisition of citizenship
3.2.1. At birth
The 1995 Constitution and the UCICA provide two categories by which citizenship by birth
can be acquired. First, Ugandan citizenship is acquired automatically by every person born in
Uganda, one of whose parents or grandparents is or was a member of any of the indigenous
communities existing and residing within the borders of Uganda as at the first day of February
1926, as listed in the Constitution [Constitution, Article 10(a) and Third Schedule, as amended
2005; UCICA, Article 12(a)].31 Second, for persons born outside Uganda, they automatically
acquire Ugandan citizenship provided one of their parents or grandparents were at the time of
birth of that person a citizen of Uganda by birth [Constitution, Article 10(b); UCICA, Article
12(b)].
The two categories, by design, omit the right for whites and Asians to acquire Ugandan
citizenship by birth. 32 They also exclude members of other communities not listed in the
schedule to the constitution, generating debates surrounding the Constitution’s definition of
Ugandan ‘indigeneity’. It is also important to highlight that citizenship by birth does not solely
impact the rights of an individual by virtue of where they are born, and the relationship they
maintain with the State as a result, but in the Ugandan context it also determines the collective
rights of communities and the manner by which they can be represented within the State
structure.33
3.2.2. Foundlings and Adopted Children
Under the Constitution, foundlings acquire Ugandan citizenship by birth. A child found in
Uganda who is five years of age or younger, and whose parents are not known, is presumed to
31
According to the Third Schedule of the 1995 Constitution, fifty-six indigenous communities are identified:
Acholi; Alur; Baamba; Babukusu; Babwisi; Bafumbira; Baganda; Bagisu; Bagungu; Bagwe; Bagwere; Bahehe;
Bahororo; Bakenyi; Bakiga; Bakonzo; Banyabindi; Banyankore; Banyara; Banyarwanda; Banyole; Banyoro;
Baruli; Basamia; Basoga; Basongora; Batagwenda; Batoro; Batuku; Batwa; Chope; Dodoth; Ethur; Ik (Teuso);
Iteso; Jie; Jonam; Jopadhola; Kakwa; Karimojong; Kebu (Okebu); Kuku; Kumam; Langi; Lendu; Lugbara;
Madi; Mening; Mvuba; Napore; Nubi; Nyangia; Pokot; Sabiny; So (Tepeth); and Vonoma. According to the
2005 Amendments, nine additional indigenous communities were added: Aliba; Aringa; Banyabutumbi;
Banyaruguru; Barundi; Gimara; Ngikutio; Reli; and Shana.
32
Manby, Bronwen. Struggles For Citizenship in Africa. London: Zed, 2009.
33
For further elaboration of the relationship between individual and collective rights in Uganda, reference the
case of the Buganda community in demanding for federal status: Barya John-Jean, “Reconstituting Ugandan
Citizenship Under the 1995 Constitution: a Conflict of Nationalism, Chauvinism, and Ethnicity”, Centre for
Basic Research, (2000). Working Paper No. 55.
RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/8 - © 2020 Author
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