By "Another Concerned Reader"
Dear Editor,
I am not a regular reader of this Marxist-Leninist blog - ZNK. In fact, until recently, I was merely an occasional reader. However, the ongoing debate on Dual Citizenship between your platform, “Mr. Concerned,” and Dr. Shaaban Fundi has compelled me to follow your pages almost daily.
Having carefully read both the arguments in support of Dual Citizenship and those opposing it, I now feel obliged, as an ordinary Tanzanian struggling abroad, to offer a different perspective altogether.
Like many Tanzanians living abroad, I personally believe that Dual Citizenship is ultimately the future. Global realities are changing rapidly and many nations are gradually adjusting to that reality. However, whether we like it or not, we must also confront the political reality of present-day Tanzania honestly, sincerely, genuinely and without illusions.
Let us be truthful to ourselves - does anyone (including our Dr. Fundi and his friends from Texas and S. Carolina) seriously believe that the current administration is prepared to grant full Dual Citizenship or to accept that the Tanzania Citizenship Act (Cap 357) is unconstitutional and violates our inalienable natural right of citizenship by birth? Many of us know the answer to that question. It is simply not on the table at all at this moment in time.
If that is the reality, then why are we Tanzanians in the diaspora exhausting so much energy fighting among ourselves instead of uniting behind something that may actually be achievable now - namely, Hadhi Maalumu?
At the moment, one group insists on full Dual Citizenship while another is willing to accept Hadhi Maalumu as a starting point. The unfortunate result is that the government watches from a distance as we divide ourselves into competing camps, and in the end we receive nothing at all, as the government does nothing in Parliament.
Instead of speaking with one voice and presenting a common front, we have divided ourselves into two separate WhatsApp groups - one championing Dual Citizenship and the other advocating for Hadhi Maalumu. This is a living testimony of how deeply fragmented and misguided our approach is.
In politics, divided voices rarely achieve meaningful victories.
Dr. Fundi, tell me, would it not be wiser to first secure what is politically possible today, and then continue building gradually toward greater recognition and rights in the future? After all, even a journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step and that single step is Hadhi Maalumu.
There is an old saying that “half a loaf is better than none.” At present, we are rejecting even the possibility of obtaining half a loaf simply because we are demanding the entire bakery to ourselves immediately. In the process, years continue to pass while the diaspora remains empty-handed.
Personally, I see accepting Hadhi Maalumu with open arms not as a surrender, but as a strategic foundation. Through it, the diaspora could gain important recognition and practical benefits such as easier residency arrangements, investment facilitation, stronger cultural ties with the homeland and greater participation in national development without having full citizenship status. Those Dr. Fundi are not small matters. Those are important first steps.
History also teaches us that wise political movements often advance gradually rather than through emotional maximalism. During the Lancaster House discussions on Zanzibar’s independence in the early 1960s, in London, the late Abeid Amani Karume understood very well that immediate political realities were not necessarily in his favour. Yet he still chose a path that would eventually position his movement strategically for the future. Sometimes accepting a smaller victory today creates the conditions for a much larger victory tomorrow.
Similarly, many of us may desire full Dual Citizenship today. But, if the present political environment makes that impossible, then wisdom demands that we first secure what can realistically be achieved now. Once that foundation exists, future generations can continue pushing the conversation further ahead. After all, Nyerere continued where the Maji Maji warriors had left off.
What concerns me most is that while diaspora groups continue arguing among themselves over “all or nothing,” the government comfortably maintains the status quo and does nothing, because we ourselves appear undecided. In many ways, we are weakening our own cause.
In fact, Parliament did debate the issue of Hadhi Maalumu seriously, but there has not yet been a widely publicized final nationwide rollout and this is definitely because they see us not serious on the issue and therefore the complete operational framework of the doc still appears to be evolving, as we abroad continue fighting among ourselves.
No serious person doubts the importance of the diaspora to Tanzania’s future. The diaspora, as you mentioned Dr. Fundi in your previous posting, contributes investment, knowledge, international exposure, professional expertise, remittances, and global networks that benefit the nation immensely. The question therefore should no longer be whether the diaspora deserves recognition, but rather how best to achieve meaningful progress under the realities that currently exist.
Instead of wrangling among ourselves, let us all, as Tanzanians living abroad, unite in unison behind Hadhi Maalumu and jointly send an Open Letter to our government in Dodoma urging it to finalize this matter without further delay, while we patiently await the outcome of the appeal of our Constitutional Petition No. 18 of 2022 challenging the Tanzania Citizenship Act (Cap. 357).
Sometimes, in politics and in life in general, insisting on everything immediately may result in getting nothing at all. (Those naughty boys with girlfriends know this better!). Wisdom is not always found in obtaining everything we want today. Sometimes wisdom lies in securing what is possible today while preparing intelligently for tomorrow.
With my best regards /Another Concerned Reader
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