In Uganda, minority ethnic groups renew petition to amend constitution for citizenship rights

Uganda’s minority ethnic groups have petitioned parliament to amend the constitution to grant them citizenship rights. In a joint petition to the Speaker of Parliament last week, the groups said that this exclusion has denied them the right to claim citizenship by birth, limiting their access to essential services, social protection, and opportunities for development. The Uganda constitution lists indigenous communities who are entitled to claim primary citizenship by birth due to having been residents in the Uganda Protectorate before February 1, 1926, when the final borders of the country were established by the British colonial administration. But as the new constitution was drafted in 1995, several minority indigenous groups such as Bahaya, Bagabu, Bakingwe, Baziba, Mosopishiek, Maragoli and Sabaot were left out.
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