Scuffle over Lesotho citizenship

The 16 foreigners, comprising 10 Indians and 16 Pakistanis said their applications have been long withheld and they must be allowed to swear their oaths of allegiance to the Kingdom, Lesotho Times reports.

One of the 16 foreigners, Amberkar Huzaifa Abdul Aziz, disclosed in his supporting affidavit that having commenced his application process in 2017, he had long concluded his application, submitted all necessary documents and paid all required fees for the naturalisation process yet he is yet to be allowed take the oath of allegiance.

“In terms of the Lesotho Citizenship Order No.16 of 1971, section 9 thereof, a person from a Commonwealth country such as the applicants, is eligible to apply for Lesotho citizenship if they meet the requirements,” his reaction is quoted by Lesotho Times.

“Section 9 makes it abundantly clear that if a person by whom the application has been made, satisfies the minister (of Home Affairs) that he is qualified under the section, the minister may, if in his opinion that person would, if registered, be a suitable citizen of Lesotho, order that the person be registered as a citizen of Lesotho,” the affidavit added.

“No adverse finding has been made by me or the minister and none is contemplated at the stage where my application has already been approved. I aver that citizenship by its nature is an important issue of status which is intrinsically linked to other fundamental human rights. Once I received a call that my application was successful, and I was advised to pay the necessary fee (M70 000), I had a substantive legitimate expectation that my application would be processed to finality within a reasonable time. Failure to do so means my legitimate expectation has been violated … and my attempts to get answers have fallen on deaf ears,” Amberkar Huzaifa Abdul Aziz expressed through an affidavit.

The respondents to the action are the Ministry of Home Affairs, the principal secretary, the director of immigration and the Attorney General.