CONSTITUTION OF ZAMBIA (PRIOR TO 1996
AMENDMENTS) - PART II
CITIZENSHIP
Article
4. [Citizens of Zambia]
(1) Every person who immediately
before the commencement of this Constitution was a citizen of Zambia
shall continue to be a citizen of Zambia after the commencement of
this Constitution.
(2) A person who was granted
citizenship of Zambia before the commencement of this Constitution
subject to the performance of any conditions following the happening
of a future event, shall become a citizen upon the performance of
such conditions.
5. [Children of Zambia]
A person born in or outside Zambia
after the commencement of this Constitution shall become a citizen
of Zambia at the date of his birth if on that date at least one of
his parents is a citizen of Zambia.
6. [Persons entitled to apply to be
registered as citizens ]
(1) Any person who --
-
(a) has attained the age of
twenty-one years or is or has been married to a citizen of Zambia;
and
-
(b) has been ordinarily resident in
Zambia for a continuous period of not less than ten years
immediately preceding that person's application for registration;
or
-
(c) is a woman who has been married
to a citizen of Zambia for a period of more than three years
preceding 24th July, 1988;
shall be entitled to apply to the
Citizenship Board, in such manner as may be prescribed by or under
an Act of Parliament, to be registered as a citizen of Zambia.
(2) An application for registration as
a citizen under this Article shall not be made by or on behalf of
any person who, under any law in force in Zambia, is adjudged or
otherwise declared to be of unsound mind.
(3) Parliament may provide that any
period during which a person has the right to reside in Zambia by
virtue of a permit issued under the authority of any law relating to
immigration shall not be taken into account in computing the period
of ten years referred to in paragraph (b) of clause (1).
7. [Powers of Parliament]
Parliament may make provision for --
-
(a) the acquisition of citizenship
of Zambia by persons who are not eligible to become citizens of
Zambia under this Part;
-
(b) depriving any person of his
citizenship of Zambia:
Provided that a person who is a citizen --
-
(i) by virtue of
Article 5 and was citizen of Zambia before the commencement
of this Constitution otherwise than by registration or
naturalisation; or
-
(ii) by virtue of
Article 6, shall not be deprived of his citizenship except
upon the ground that he is a citizen of a country other than
Zambia; and
-
(c) the renunciation by any person
of his citizenship of Zambia.
8. [Citizenship Board]
Parliament may make provision for the
establishment of a Citizenship Board to deal with any of the matters
falling under the provisions of Articles 6 or
7.
9. [Cesser of citizenship]
(1) A Citizen of Zambia shall cease to
be such a citizen if at any time he acquires the citizenship of a
country other than Zambia by a voluntary act other than marriage or
does any act indicating his intention to adopt or make use of such
citizenship.
(2) A person who --
-
(a) becomes a citizen of Zambia by
registration; and
-
(b) is, immediately after he becomes
a citizen of Zambia, also a citizen of some other country;
shall, subject to clause (4), cease to
be a citizen of Zambia at the expiration of three months after he
becomes a citizen of Zambia unless he has renounced the citizenship
of that other country, taken the oath of allegiance and made and
registered such declaration of his intention concerning residence as
may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.
(3) For the purpose of this Article,
where, under the law of a country other than Zambia, a person cannot
renounce his citizenship of that other country he need not make such
renunciation but he may instead be required to make such declaration
concerning that citizenship as may be prescribed by or under an Act
of Parliament.
(4) Provision may be made by or under
an Act of Parliament for extending the period within which any
person may make a renunciation of citizenship, take oath or make or
register a declaration for the purpose of this Article, and if such
provision is made that person shall cease to be a citizen of Zambia
only if at the expiration of the extended period he has not then
made the renunciation, taken the oath or made or registered the
declaration, as the case may be.
10. [Interpretation]
(1) For the purpose of this Part, a
person born aboard a registered ship or aircraft, or aboard an
unregistered ship or aircraft of the Government of any country,
shall be deemed to have been born in the place in which the ship or
aircraft was registered or, as the case may be, in that country.
(2) Any reference in this Part to the
national status of the parent of a person at the time of the birth
of that person shall, in relation to a person born after the death
of his parent, be construed as a reference to the national status of
the parent at the time of the parent's death.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, it is
hereby declared that a person born in Zambia before the 1st of
April, 1986, whose father was an established resident shall continue
to enjoy the rights and privileges, and shall remain subject to the
law prevailing immediately before that date.
(4) For the purposes of this Part --
-
"Citizenship Board" means the
Citizenship Board established by or under an Act of Parliament;
-
"established resident" means a
person who, immediately before the 1st April, 1986, qualified for
that status in accordance with the law then prevailing.
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