I am writing to share with you news about the progress on the campaign for dual nationality for Zambians, following my recent attendance to the National Indaba which took place on 4-5th April 2009 in Lusaka. I was invited to attend the Indaba conference by Zambia Diaspora Connect whom some of you may already be familiar with and the initiatives it has been working on. One of these includes discussions with government on contributing to the National Indaba. The Indaba's theme was "Global Economic Crisis, a Wake-up Call for Transformation". Government has responded positively in a serious sign of intent with regard to Diaspora engagement and invited the diaspora to participate in the Indaba. Zambia Diaspora Connect led the team headed by Mr. Chasaya Sichilima (Zambia Diaspora Connect Business and Government Liaison Officer) from Canada. Other attendees were Mr. Paul Lupunga from Australia, Mr. Simon Sakala from Japan, Mr. Kazhila Chinsembu from Namibia, and yours truly.

We were given a slot at the Indaba to make a presentation which was based on a report made by Diaspora Connect following an e-Conference held in October of last year. You can read the full report, executive summary and presentation from the Diaspora connect website (http://diasporaconnect.blogspot.com/ ). Our attendance at the Indaba marked positive shift with government engagement and shows that whatever efforts all of us in the diaspora have been making to ensure our voice is heard in the country's development are beginning to bear fruit.

One of the items highlighted in the disapora presentation at the Indaba was the issue of dual nationality, and how vital it was for parliament to adopt recommendations made for dual nationality in the new constitution. Some of you will be aware of the efforts I made in 2003 and then on with starting a petition and submitting a proposal for dual nationality to be included in the draft constitution. Submissions to the draft constitution were at that time being handled by Constitution Review Commission (CRC) which set up an online website to widen the scope of receiving constitution submissions. Since that time a lot of progress has been made with the campaign for dual nationality from various groups and individuals both in and out of Zambia. The National Constitutional Conference (NCC) was set up in August 2007 was set up to draft the new constitution following the CRC draft report of 2005. The NCC have held several sittings since then discussing which parts of the constitution to recommend for adoption by parliament. In 2008 Diaspora Connect held a very successful petition with over 1000 names urging government and the NCC to include the dual nationality clause in the new constitution. I would like to draw your attention to the fact the NCC is submitting the clause for dual nationality in the new constitution with recommendations that the dual nationality inclusion be adopted by parliament at a sitting in May 2009. However, I am reliably informed that the battle is not over yet and that there are still some MP’s in opposition to the dual nationality clause. It is vital therefore that we step up the campaign between now and May 2009 by perhaps organizing another petition, lobbying MP’s , and using the media to voice our viewpoints on the matter. One suggestion which has been made, is for the diaspora to either send further representation to Zambia in May 2009, or to put together a video presentation to present to parliament with viewpoints from the different people in the Zambian diaspora.

I will keep you informed on progress on this last push for dual nationality, and urge you to participate in any petitions or appeals to participate in the video presentation which might come your way.

Ing’utu (Mutti) Palmer