Malawi Law Commission wants special board for citizenship awards

Foreigners seeking to have Malawi citizenship will now have to go through a special board which will scrutinize them to find out whether they have met required qualifications before they are given the Malawi passport.

Law Commissioner Rosemary Kanyuka is leading a team of experts who are seeking input from Malawians on the issue.

“As a nation, we need to give citizenships to foreigners who will add value to the country. The board will be strict on that,” said Kanyuka.

Currently, any foreigner who has stayed in Malawi for seven consecutive years automatically qualifies for the country’s citizenship.

But Kanyuka said if the formation of the board becomes law, even those who have stayed in the country for seven years will still go under the microphone.

The minister of Homeland Security currently makes unilateral decisions on the award of citizenship to foreigners, a system which is prone to corruption.

Former minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Uladi Mussa is currently answering charges of corruption and abuse of money for allegedly receiving huge sums of money from Burundians in exchange for the Malawi citizenship although the Burundians were barely less than a year in the country.