25 Sep 2019

Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Mr Ngaka Ngaka says a person is required to have a residence permit prior to applying for a Botswana citizenship.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Maitengwe, Mr Ngaka said the law required that a person residing in Botswana should have a residence permit for a period of five years and thereafter one could be given a second permit for another five years if that person requested.

The minister said such a person would therefore be eligible to apply for a citizenship.

 He however explained that it was not a guarantee that if a person had stayed in Botswana for the stipulated period he/she would automatically get citizenship.

Mr Ngaka explained that a child born to a Botswana citizen and a foreigner has to renounce his/ her citizenship at the age of 21 years.

He thus urged those affected by the status of their parents to come forthwith to their offices and be assisted accordingly instead of delaying.

The minister said this in response to remarks made by Kgosi Shadreck Mphala-Mengwe, who said there were people who have relatives on the other side of the border, while some were married to foreigners and would like to acquire Botswana citizenship.

Kgosi Mphala Mengwe however noted that applying for citizenship seemed difficult for some people as some had been residing in the country for almost 17 years using a residence permit.

Some of these people have children who are expected to renounce their citizenship after reaching the age of 21, he said.

Furthermore, Kgosi Mengwe said such a situation had affected children negatively as some of them had their national identity cards confiscated for failure to renounce on time. 

He said living without Omang ended up denying children an opportunity to get employment.

He also complained about the worn out border fence, which allowed criminals easy access into Botswana and Zimbabwe.

He pleaded for the replacement of pickets which he said helped in fighting border line crime, as they were located 50 metres away from one another. Ends