After 50 years of residing in the nation, Tanzania, one of the fastest-growing economies in East Africa, has awarded citizenship to over 3,000 mobile migrants.
At a celebration to mark the transition, Dr. Hussein Mwinyi, the president of Zanzibar, told the new residents that they would be granted the fundamental liberties that come with identifying as a citizen of Tanzania. He also gave the new citizens their citizenship certificates and advised them to make the most of the country's residents' chances for employment.
The president stated, “Indeed, our country today is writing a new history to complete this great thing of granting citizenship to our brothers and sisters from neighboring countries who we have lived with here for more than 50 years.”
Dr. Hussein Mwinyi reassured the attendees that both union and revolutionary governments are prime to uphold the promises made when he assumed office back in 2020.
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Amidst his welcome address to the new citizens, he sounded a warning, deterring them from involving themselves in unlawful practices. He stated, “For sure you have the obligation to sustain your obedience to the law and refrain from crimes.”
He urged the country's new citizens, some of whom had lived in the country before its independence, not to disturb the tranquility that the country had fought so hard to attain. He also entrusted government personnel with assisting new citizens in accordance with laws, rules, and standards.
Prior to the admission of these new citizenships, the government of the country typically charged around Sh2 million for citizenship, but this has been scrapped as a welcoming gesture. This denotes a forfeiture of Sh6.6 billion on the part of the Tanzanian government to the 3,319 citizens that would have been charged.
The certificates for the recipients include 676 men, 768 women, and 1,675 children. The citizens hail from Mozambique (3,116 people), Comoros (147 people), Burundi (5 people) and Rwanda (1 person).
Some of the new citizens spoke at the event, promising to be exemplary citizens and to be on their best behavior.