The Democratic Republic of Congo’s transitional government, consisting of former wartime rivals for power, has agreed on draft legislation regarding nationality and citizenship, officials said on Tuesday.
After several days of discussions, government members on Monday night agreed on the law that will be put to put to the interim National Assembly, an official statement on the Cabinet meeting said.
Nationality issues were among the causes of wars that raged across the vast Central African country — whose population includes several major ethnic groups — from 1996, and officially ended last year.
Government spokesperson Henri Mova Sakanyi said the draft law ”gives structure to two possibilities … nationality by birth or nationality by adoption”.
It was prepared according to guidelines laid down during an ”inter-Congolese dialogue” hosted by South Africa in 2002, which led to one of the main peace pacts to end the war and agreement on a framework for transition to democracy.
When the transitional Parliament went into session on July 12, citizenship legislation was one of the 12 points on the agenda.
National Assembly Speaker Olivier Kamitatu Etsu urged parliamentarians to engage in debate on nationality ”with a high sense of responsibility and attention to the need to preserve peace, unity and national cohesion”.
The Parliament, like the government and other interim institutions, includes members of former rebel movements. — Sapa-AFP