Mutharika assures Malawians in UK to sort out dual citizenship

President Prof. Peter Mutharika on Sunday assured Malawians living in United Kingdom (UK) that his government would soon sort out the issue of visa and dual citizenship for Malawians living in diaspora.

He was responding to challenges which the Malawians based in UK presented when they met him at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London.

Among other problems presented, the UK-based Malawians said they face problems when visiting their home country with children as they have to get visas for them because they are considered as UK citizens.

They  said it was difficult for them to obtain a Malawi Passport while in diaspora, therefore asked the Malawi government to consider the possibility of dual citizenship for foreign-based Malawians, especially those living in UK.

“We are working on the issue of dual citizenship, the cabinet approved the proposal and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs is working on it,” Mutharika told them.

The Malawians, who came from areas of health, law, education and business among others, said would want to participate in social economic development of the country by investing in the home country but fail because they are taken as foreigners once in Malawi.

“We invest millions in other countries which are not our homes. We would like to invest in our home country and contribute to the country’s development,”  a Malawian of Asian origin Salim Yusufu Lorgat said.

Mutharika explained programmes government is implementing in irrigation, road infrastructure, health and skills development for Malawian youth, saying there are several opportunities the Malawians based in UK and other countries could exploit and invest in the country.

He informed them of the country’s nationals of strides to improve the economy, saying there are several indicators to that effect; one of them being that fuel price has not risen for two years running now.

The President advised them to get reliable information about the country for them to have a good picture and speak positively about it.

Mutharika observed that sometimes they get information from social media which is misleading.

“It is important to speak positively about your country,” Mutharika stated.

Chairperson for Malawi Association in UK, Hannington Gondwe expressed gratitude for the President’s response to their issues.

He said they were relieved that the president pledged to deal with the dual citizenship issue to enable them participate in the social economic development of the country.

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