Hundreds of Zimbabweans living in various countries are flocking to the Registrar-General’s Office to get passports in reaction to provisions of the new constitution and recent Cnstitutional Court decisions giving a nod to dual citizenship.
The Registrar General, Tobaiwa Mudede, is quoted by the state-controlled media as saying that his office cannot cope with the large number of passport applications from Zimbabweans in the diaspora.
The state was recently compelled by two rulings in the Constitutional Court to grant citizens dual citizenship as per some provisions of the new constitution, which guarantees citizenship to Zimbabweans born in the country and those with parents born in the southern African nation.
Commentators are skeptical about the Registrar General’s Office’s negative attitude on dual citizenship. Mudede was not available for comment as his mobile phone was not reachable.
For perspective, Studio 7’s Gibbs Dube speaks to Alex Magaisa of Kent University in London, who is one of the crafters of the new constitution.
