Party leader, M’membe, faults Zambian govt move to strip opposition leader of country’s nationality

M’membe said the cancellation or revocation of citizenship across Africa was a complex legal and political issue that had historically been used for political exclusion, national security enforcement or to address fraudulent documentation.

He said international human rights law and frameworks such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights prohibited arbitrary deprivation of nationality, while arguing that several forms of citizenship cancellation persisted across the continent.

“A prominent and widely criticised form of citizenship cancellation involves governments stripping the nationality of political opponents, human rights activists, or journalists. This weaponisation of denationalisation often leaves individuals stateless or exiled,” M’membe said.

He cited cases including the reported revocation of the nationality of two France-based Chadian activists by President Mahamat Idriss Déby in late 2025, as well as the stripping of Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda’s citizenship in 1995 under the Chiluba government.

He also cited Côte d’Ivoire’s stripping of former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara’s nationality in 2000.

M’membe acknowledged that governments also cancel national registration documents or passports when they determine that such documents were obtained through false declarations, misrepresentation or administrative irregularities.

“Mukandila doesn’t deserve this unfair, unjust, and inhuman treatment,” he said.

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