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Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]

FOR the last 59 years, Ms Rita Kasichi, a woman of Malawian origin born in Mhangura in 1965, has not been able to travel back to that country to visit her extended family since she could not acquire a passport.

That will soon change after the Malawian Embassy embarked on an exercise to register people like her as dual citizens of the Southern African country and Zimbabwe.

Officials from the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi have been stationed at a local church in Nguboyenja suburb for the last five days — from last Sunday to yesterday — to assist Bulawayo residents of Malawian origin register as dual citizens of both Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The embassy officials have been to Gweru, Gwanda, Harare and other small towns in a bid to try and reach out to many people of Malawian descent interested in acquiring that country’s travelling documents, something that has been a pipe dream for Ms Kasichi and her brother Mr Enock Kasichi.

Ms Kasichi told Chronicle that she was declared stateless at the age of 25 years, a predicament that she lived with for years.

Malawi Embassy rolls out dual citizenship to Malawians living in Zimbabwe

“Being declared stateless was the most difficult period of my life because I could not acquire a national identity document (ID), could not get formal employment or even open a bank account.

“I had to resort to informal trade to make a living and take care of my two children,” said Ms Kasichi.

In October 2014, after years of living as an undocumented citizen of both Zimbabwe and Malawi, she took the most difficult decision of denouncing her Malawian citizenship in order to acquire local documents.

“I was given two options with the first being to denounce my Malawian citizenship to acquire a Zimbabwean ID, although I would still be considered an ‘alien’ or to go back to Malawi and live there continuously for five years before registering as a citizen of that country,” she said.

“That option did not work for me because I did not have a permanent place to stay in Malawi for all those years.”

Ms Kasichi said she was in constant touch with members of her extended family in Kasungu District in central Malawi and has already told them the good news that she and her brother will be visiting at the end of the year.

Malawi Embassy rolls out dual citizenship to Malawians living in Zimbabwe

“I’m so excited. I can’t wait to go and see my family and visit Malawi for the very first time,” she said.

Father of three, Mr Enock Kasichi, said he will use his newly acquired Malawian travel document to also get passports for his children so that they travel to Kasungu District and meet their younger cousins and then rest of the extended family.

“Our father used to tell us stories about life in Kasungu when he was growing up but we never got the chance to visit our motherland when we were growing up,” he said.

“I have made a life for myself and my family here in Bulawayo where I was born but it’s also important to keep in touch with my relatives back in Malawi and visit them on a regular basis and having a Malawian passport will make it all possible,” said Mr Kasichi.

According to Second Secretary (Immigration) Mr Sebastian Golody Lichapa of the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi, the exercise to register people of Malawian descent for dual citizenship is being done in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Under an amended Act of the Malawian Constitution, Malawians living in other countries who qualify under dual citizenship fall under three categories — citizenship by birth, by descent and by registration,” said Mr Lichapa.

Malawi Embassy rolls out dual citizenship to Malawians living in Zimbabwe

Mr Lichapa said the embassy was targeting people that fall under the category of citizenship by descent.

“A person born outside Malawi after 5 July 1964 to one or both parents born in Malawi and one or both parents who is a holder of a Malawi passport qualifies for dual citizenship,” he said.

He said the Government of Malawi enacted an Act that allowed dual citizenship three years ago.

“Half of the Malawian population in Zimbabwe has Zimbabwean passports and our government thought it wise to give them dual citizenship. For someone to qualify for dual citizenship, they must have a passport from their host nation then they can apply for a Malawian passport using very simple steps that we are showing them here.

“The steps include showing the immigration officials proof that one’s parents were born in Malawi by producing old passports, certificates of marriage or national identity documents,” said Mr Lichapa.

He said the response from Bulawayo residents of Malawian descent has been good as people were trickling in steadily into the local church where the registration was being done.

Malawi Embassy rolls out dual citizenship to Malawians living in Zimbabwe

“It’s an ongoing exercise that the embassy is doing in partnership with UNHCR because we want to assist as many people as possible in all corners of Zimbabwe,” said the official.

“The next exercise in Bulawayo will be announced before it starts and we encourage many people to come forward.”