{UAH} Uganda's dual citizenship law was an opportunity this government missed
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7:32 AM |
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In passing the dual citizenship law the Ugandan legislators wasted time and demonstrated their shortsightedness as well as their inability to apply logic and intelligence to solving the unique problems faced by a country like Uganda.
I looked out for and followed this law until it came out and then i lost interest because I realised these idiots just didnt get it!
For three decades and in every speech by Museveni both at home and abroad where he travels frequently in that expensive begging carriage whose expense was justified with the claim that he needed to travel overseas to beg for foreign investors to come to Uganda, Museveni has begged for foreign investors to come and invest in Uganda.
Yet Ugandan has a pool of potential foreign investors with an emotional connection to Uganda that can be exploited quite easily. As a matter of fact they are already the biggest donors to the Ugandan economy sending more money each year to Ugandans than all foreign donors put together! Yet the country is patronised by donors who dictate its domestic and foreign policy based on their control of the governments budged only because their money is reflected as direct budgetary support!
That the president is more interested in these mostly poor quality investors who are really speculators and gold seekers running away from poverty in their own Asian countries and seeking their fortune in Uganda is clearly reflected in the substance of this dual citizenship law!
As for assertions regarding so called certificates of dual citizenship, am afraid this is just another example of blind apeing of other countries laws and assuming them to be universal practice and passing them off to Ugandans as immutable! Ugandans elect leaders to develop laws for Uganda and Ugandans that take into account their unique problems and are designed to solve their problems!
As an example under Australia's laws one claims dual citizenship if the country they come from approves dual citizenship. And it does not require any paperwork or claiming so called certificates of dual citizenship. And just like one can apply for a childs passport at birth many dual citizens like UK citizens for example have children with two passports. Those children are required to make a declaration when they are 18 but as children they can hold dual citizenship!
For adults with two passports, one claims the rights of the passport they chose to use when travelling. So if one travels with the Australian and the Ugandan passport, they will be treated as Australian while in Uganda for consular services if they cross the border on an Australian passport or as a Ugandan if they present a Ugandan passport. That means that if Kaguta and his men get smoked while one is visiting Uganda and everyone is trying to get out of town, when the Australia government sends in a jet to evacuate its citizens, they will treat you as a Ugandan if you entered Ugandan on a Ugandan passport or as an Australian if you entered as an Australian.
For most other things it does not really matter because for tax purposes one is already treated as a resident for tax purposes and medicare or other government services. As for travelling to other places around the world, the Ugandan passport just increases ones chances of getting discriminated against by consular services and offers one no value!
So holding a Ugandan passport for a diaspora citizen is really of more potential benefit to Uganda than it is to the diaspora resident! Ugandan should have been able to see that if our legislators really understand the countries problems. The only reason that Israel exists is because of its diaspora which it uses to project its power and influence onto the policy of the most powerful governments around the world.
Uganda's dual citizenship law was an opportunity this government missed and it will have to be returned to the drawing board. It does not serve the diaspora and neither does it serve the interests of Uganda or its citizens. One could be cynical and say it does serve the interests of the incumbent who perceives the diaspora as hostile to his monarchy, an example of the tail wagging the dog!
As for me applying for Ugandan citizenship, paying them 400 dollars, and jumping through hoops and red tape like looking up some idiot LC to certify my Ugandan origin, keep on dreaming! The Ugandan foreign office already has my details as they already issued me with a passport that included verification of my origins! Why exactly would I have to go through that crap again?
The visa fees at Entebbe are the most annoying money I have ever had to pay. As a matter of fact I do not remember many countries in the last decade that have required me to pay for a visa. The only one has been China and UGANDA. In addition Uganda is the only one that gives me a five day visa if am there for 5 days. Other countries even give me up
to 3 years when I fly in for a week! All of the others assume that when am in the country, am going to be spending money and waive the visa fees accordingly. The money I save in visa fees is still spent in the country, ends up in the economy and comes back to the state as taxes. So whichever way you look at it, the state wins. But when I come into Uganda and pay for a visa for my two year old to visit her grandparents, that leaves a very bad taste in the mouth!
Instead of foreign service employees like Mbabazi Sherurah coming here to justify stupid laws, they should be reporting back the views of Ugandan's transnational citizens and using that information to draft laws and policies that benefit Uganda! The diaspora is there to be exploited and most would be exploited gladly if the government has got the brains to do so. This one doesnt!
WRITTEN BY DREW DEMBE
-- I looked out for and followed this law until it came out and then i lost interest because I realised these idiots just didnt get it!
For three decades and in every speech by Museveni both at home and abroad where he travels frequently in that expensive begging carriage whose expense was justified with the claim that he needed to travel overseas to beg for foreign investors to come to Uganda, Museveni has begged for foreign investors to come and invest in Uganda.
Yet Ugandan has a pool of potential foreign investors with an emotional connection to Uganda that can be exploited quite easily. As a matter of fact they are already the biggest donors to the Ugandan economy sending more money each year to Ugandans than all foreign donors put together! Yet the country is patronised by donors who dictate its domestic and foreign policy based on their control of the governments budged only because their money is reflected as direct budgetary support!
That the president is more interested in these mostly poor quality investors who are really speculators and gold seekers running away from poverty in their own Asian countries and seeking their fortune in Uganda is clearly reflected in the substance of this dual citizenship law!
As for assertions regarding so called certificates of dual citizenship, am afraid this is just another example of blind apeing of other countries laws and assuming them to be universal practice and passing them off to Ugandans as immutable! Ugandans elect leaders to develop laws for Uganda and Ugandans that take into account their unique problems and are designed to solve their problems!
As an example under Australia's laws one claims dual citizenship if the country they come from approves dual citizenship. And it does not require any paperwork or claiming so called certificates of dual citizenship. And just like one can apply for a childs passport at birth many dual citizens like UK citizens for example have children with two passports. Those children are required to make a declaration when they are 18 but as children they can hold dual citizenship!
For adults with two passports, one claims the rights of the passport they chose to use when travelling. So if one travels with the Australian and the Ugandan passport, they will be treated as Australian while in Uganda for consular services if they cross the border on an Australian passport or as a Ugandan if they present a Ugandan passport. That means that if Kaguta and his men get smoked while one is visiting Uganda and everyone is trying to get out of town, when the Australia government sends in a jet to evacuate its citizens, they will treat you as a Ugandan if you entered Ugandan on a Ugandan passport or as an Australian if you entered as an Australian.
For most other things it does not really matter because for tax purposes one is already treated as a resident for tax purposes and medicare or other government services. As for travelling to other places around the world, the Ugandan passport just increases ones chances of getting discriminated against by consular services and offers one no value!
So holding a Ugandan passport for a diaspora citizen is really of more potential benefit to Uganda than it is to the diaspora resident! Ugandan should have been able to see that if our legislators really understand the countries problems. The only reason that Israel exists is because of its diaspora which it uses to project its power and influence onto the policy of the most powerful governments around the world.
Uganda's dual citizenship law was an opportunity this government missed and it will have to be returned to the drawing board. It does not serve the diaspora and neither does it serve the interests of Uganda or its citizens. One could be cynical and say it does serve the interests of the incumbent who perceives the diaspora as hostile to his monarchy, an example of the tail wagging the dog!
As for me applying for Ugandan citizenship, paying them 400 dollars, and jumping through hoops and red tape like looking up some idiot LC to certify my Ugandan origin, keep on dreaming! The Ugandan foreign office already has my details as they already issued me with a passport that included verification of my origins! Why exactly would I have to go through that crap again?
The visa fees at Entebbe are the most annoying money I have ever had to pay. As a matter of fact I do not remember many countries in the last decade that have required me to pay for a visa. The only one has been China and UGANDA. In addition Uganda is the only one that gives me a five day visa if am there for 5 days. Other countries even give me up
to 3 years when I fly in for a week! All of the others assume that when am in the country, am going to be spending money and waive the visa fees accordingly. The money I save in visa fees is still spent in the country, ends up in the economy and comes back to the state as taxes. So whichever way you look at it, the state wins. But when I come into Uganda and pay for a visa for my two year old to visit her grandparents, that leaves a very bad taste in the mouth!
Instead of foreign service employees like Mbabazi Sherurah coming here to justify stupid laws, they should be reporting back the views of Ugandan's transnational citizens and using that information to draft laws and policies that benefit Uganda! The diaspora is there to be exploited and most would be exploited gladly if the government has got the brains to do so. This one doesnt!
WRITTEN BY DREW DEMBE
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