August 4th, 2016
As organizations in the Diaspora
representing Malawians and friends of Malawi, we have long requested our
government to enact more comprehensive, inclusive and forward-looking dual
citizenship laws over the past few years. Malawian organizations in the United
States are therefore speaking with one voice in support of the announcement to
draft new dual citizenship legislation in Parliament by His Excellency,
President Peter Mutharika.
Pursuant to the Malawi Citizenship
and Immigration act of 1966, the Malawian constitution does not presently
accommodate for Malawian citizens and foreign nationals of Malawian descent
over 21 years of age to hold dual citizenship. Therefore, the current
legislation change is not only welcome news, but a step in the right direction
by the Mutharika administration on behalf of Malawians everywhere. We
believe dual citizenship would be a tremendous benefit to the government and to
all people of Malawian origin. We
believe such a system would provide the following advantages:
ECONOMIC GROWTH:
➢ It
will encourage economic investments in Malawi from Malawians abroad.
➢ It
will allow an estimated $40M USD in remittances or money that the Diaspora
sends annually to transfer through the formal sector, thus increasing foreign
currency flow and development projects they contribute towards.
➢ It
will encourage capital investments into creation of businesses that generate
jobs, goods and services, thereby facilitating increasing trade between the
host countries which is important in a new globalized environment.
EDUCATIONAL ADVANCEMENTS:
➢ It
will provide a platform to mitigate the effects of the brain drain because those
that leave seeking education will be more likely to return due to legally being
allowed to seek employment.
➢ It will
support Malawians that have an understanding of the culture and are returning
home since they are in a unique position to exchange ideas, knowledge,
expertise and training that is suitable for Malawi.
CULTURAL PRESERVATION:
➢ It
will help Malawians keep a sense of personal identity and national pride.
➢ It
will promote a culture inclusive of all Malawians, thereby redefining divisions
created by colonial borders.
➢ It
will prevent future generations of Malawians from assimilating their host countries
to the point of losing ties or linkages to Malawi.
Malawian
organizations in the United States believe that dual citizenship is a right for
all people of Malawian descent. As organizations, we will work tirelessly to
support initiatives that will have the greatest impact to the nation and the
Diaspora. We will continue advocating both the Embassy in the United
States and the Malawi government to implement dual citizenship which advances
Malawi’s socio-economic prosperity.
We
hope to do our part to contribute to a better, stronger, unified Malawi
and think a commitment to inclusive dual citizenship laws will facilitate
this in several ways. Our website, www.dualcitizenshipmalawi.org provides more information about the debate surrounding
dual citizenship and its benefits. We hope that we can count on the support of
our Malawian brothers and sisters in the movement towards this realization.
Yours
truly,
Agnes Nkhata Sitinga Kachipande
Chairwoman, Malawians in Texas
Organization (MITO) President,
Malawi Washington Association (MWA)
