CHAPTER THREE

UNDERSTANDING CITIZENSHIP: ETHIOPIAN FOCUS

1.1 Definition of Citizenship
The word citizenship comes from the word citizen that refers to people of a certain nation or
people who live in a certain state. Therefore, it signifies the legal allowance of citizens to a
member of a nation they belong to. All in all, citizenship is a full membership in a state or it is
a relation between an individual and the state which is defined by the law of that state with
rights and corresponding duties and responsibilities.
Citizenship is a relationship between an individual and the state by which the former owes
allegiance and the latter owes protection. States cannot be understood in the absence of
citizens and citizenship. In the same way, citizenship cannot be explained without the state.
Thus, the notion of citizenship is important both to the state and to individuals, since it denotes
a basic relationship between the state and its individual members. In this context, citizenship
thus refers to the broad study of rights and duties of citizens. It is the official recognition of an
individual’s integration in to the political system by denoting the status of a person as a
member of a particular country. Put differently, without the status of citizenship, a person
would be “stateless” and hence would loss official recognition to exercise citizenship rights
and fulfill responsibilities.
The classical definition of citizenship, based on Aristotle’s account, separates public realm
from the private one. Aristotelian ideal of citizenship is a definition of the human being as an
active, moral, and political being; however it was accessible only to a small group of males.
The citizens rule in the private domain (in the oikos) and being ruled in the public domain (in
the Polis). The conception of public is a higher arena than the private one. It is the public that
man exercises his highest capacities as a political animal. The modern liberal version of
citizenship was started with Hobbes and Locke in the Western political tradition whereas
democratic-participatory conceptualization has been first developed by Rousseau and put into
practice after French Revolution.

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Historically, citizenship has been linked to the privileges of membership of a particular kind
of political community one in which those who enjoy a certain status are entitled to participate
on an equal basis with their fellow citizens in making the collective decisions that regulate
social life. Citizenship allows us both to control our political leaders and to control ourselves
and collaborate with our fellow citizens on a basis of equal concern and respect. Citizenship
includes democratic political community, the collective benefits and rights associated with
membership, and participation in the community’s political, economic, and social processes –
all of which combine in different ways to establish a condition of civic equality.
1.2 Aspects/dimensions of citizenship
Citizenship in all states is not the same. For instance, while non-democratic states usually
reduce their people to mere subjects that have very limited or no rights but only duties. In
democratic states, on the other hand, people govern themselves and thus enjoy equal rights in
all aspects of life. What this broadly implies is that the historical development of democracy
and democratization (from Greek- Rome- Western Europe-USA- elsewhere in the world
today) has very much affected the historical development of the meaning, scope and content
of the concept of citizenship. Despite all these walks of historical evolution, the concept
citizenship has now come to be universally understood in terms of the following three basic
aspects. These are:
1) The social aspects of Citizenship: this refers to the rights and duties of citizens that are
directly related to social and cultural norms and values. In other words, it refers to a situation
in which citizenship can be attained for example through parent’s nationality, adoption,
marriage etc which are all products of social processes. I.e. in the case of adoption, for
instance, the full rights and responsibilities of parenthood are transformed from natural to
social parenthood and the child’s social and kinship position is also transformed from the
biological childhood to social hood. In this case, a social person is created by appropriation
and people became parents in every sense other than the genetic factor. Therefore, the social
aspect of citizenship discloses that the rights and duties associated with citizenship status are
socially determined and also distributed.

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2) The legal aspects of Citizenship: this aspect can be best understood from the statement
which reads “citizenship entails a relationship between an individual and a state originating
under terms prescribed by the law of that state and giving rise to certain duties and rights,
which such law attaches to citizenship”. What this explanation reveals is, therefore, the fact
that different countries can pursue different laws in granting and denying citizenship status or
even the same country can have different laws depending up on the prevailing political
conditions of that state.
3) The political aspects of Citizenship: this implies that the political system in a country
affects the citizenship status. For example, while in a dictatorial or authoritarian political
system, the rights and privileges of citizenship are enjoyed by a small group of the society but
the majorities are merely required to fulfill their responsibilities or duties as members of that
country, in a democratic systems, however, citizens are expected to express their allegiance to
their nation and obey the laws and reciprocally they are treated equally without any
discrimination.
. MODES OF ACQUIRING CITIZENSHIP IN ETHIOPIA
1.2.1 Modes of acquiring citizenship
A person may acquire the citizenship of a state in accordance with domestic laws in a
particular state. Modes of acquisition of citizenship are therefore not uniform. They differ
from state to state. The following are the modes by which citizenship may be acquired:
By place of birth: For most people, citizenship is a matter of birth. Those people whose birth
takes place within territorial limits of a state acquire the nationality of that state. This principle
is called jus soli (the law of the soil). The United Kingdom, the United State and many states
of Latin America follow the principle of jus soli. Children are citizens of the nation in which
they are born, no matter what the parents’ nationality is. Thus a child born to Ethiopian
parents in the United States is the citizen of the United States.
By descent: Nationality of a state may also be acquired by a person on the basis of the
nationality of either parent. Thus a child may become a national of that state of which his
parents are nationals. This principle is known as jus sanguinis (law of the blood). Germany,

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France, and Ethiopia among others confer nationality on the basis of this principle. Under jus
sanguinis, children take their parents nationality regardless of where they are born. For
example, a child born to Ethiopian parents in France is a citizen of Ethiopia. Note that many
states recognize the principle of jus soli as well as the principle of jus sanguinis. The USA and
United Kingdom are typical illustrations.
Citizenship by naturalization: A person acquires nationality at birth. However his/her
nationality may later on change. When the nationality of a person changes subsequently and
he or she acquires nationality of some other state, the process of acquisition is known as
naturalization. A person may acquire nationality through naturalization in different ways.
They are through marriage, legitimating, option, acquisition of domicile appointment as
government official, and grant of application.
Adoption of children by parents who are nationals of other states also entitles the children to
acquire the nationality of his/her parents. It may be stated that a state has discretion to confer
nationality by naturalization. It may grant a nationality up on the fulfillment of conditions it
deems appropriate. A person who wants to acquire nationality through naturalization is
required to give an application and to make request for the acquisition of nationality through
naturalization. Thus, a person may acquire nationality through naturalization when it is
granted by the state. It follows that no person has a claim to become naturalized in a foreign
state. The state is entitled to refuse the naturalization of aliens without indicating any reason.
By resumption: A person who has lost nationality by naturalization or by any other reasons
may acquire the nationality of the same state again. The acquisition of this kind is called
reiteration on resumption. For instance, an Ethiopian, who had lost Ethiopian citizenship, may
be readmitted to Ethiopian nationality under the conditions specified under the law.
By subjugation: A person may acquire nationality through subjugation after conquest, which
a part of the territory of a state or a state itself is subjugated by another state; all the
inhabitants of the territory become the nationals of the latter state. When Austria was annexed
by Germany, all the nationals of Austria became the nationals of Germany.

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By registration: A person may acquire nationality of a state through registration .The process
of registration may be different from one state to another depending upon the laws of that
State
By option: When a state is portioned into two or more states, the nationals of the former state
have the option to become the nationals of any of the successor states. The same principle
applies in the case of exchange of territory. Acquisition of nationality by option was widely
used in the latter half of nineteenth century to protect the interests of inhabitants as far as
possible from the consequences of apportions of exchange effectuated without their assent
1.2.2 Modes of acquiring citizenship in Ethiopia
The Ethiopian citizenship law was first enacted in 1930. Prior to that, the issue of citizenship
by and large was regulated by custom and tradition. Even if there was no formal law,
individuals strongly identified themselves with the state. Nevertheless, the status of citizenship
was more of subjects than citizens. Acquiring of citizenship was conferred to various nations,
nationalities and peoples due to their integration in the Ethiopian state. As mentioned above,
citizenship law of Ethiopia was first issued on July 22, 1930 and amended on October 5, 1932.
Moreover, the 1995 Ethiopian constitution (F.D.R.E constitution) stipulates some important
principles with regard to citizenship in Ethiopia. It could be said that both are generally similar
to each other. However, few departures or changes are made in the 1995 constitution. In order
to help you identify the similarity and difference between them, each of them are discussed as
follows.
The 1930 citizenship law of Ethiopia
The Ethiopian law of nationality (citizenship), was issued first on July 22, 1930, and amended
on October 5, 1932. This law is based on the general principle of jus sanguinis. Unlike jus
soli, which awards the status of nationality by birth place irrespective of the nationality of
one’s parents, the principle of jus sanguinis gives a child the nationality of his/her parents,
irrespective of his or her birth place. On the basis of the principle of jus sanguinis, Ethiopian
law provides that any person born in Ethiopia or abroad, whose father or mother is Ethiopian,
is an Ethiopian.

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Adoption of an Ethiopian child by a foreign national made in accordance to the national law of
the adopting person does not cause a change over the adopted child’s original nationality. A
woman who had lost her Ethiopian nationality by marriage to a foreigner may recover it after
the dissolution of the marriage by reason of divorce, separation or death of her husband, if she
returns to reside in Ethiopia, although for a limited time, she may be stateless under such
circumstances. Any person who had lost his Ethiopian nationality may recover it when he/she
returns to reside in Ethiopia.
A foreigner may acquire Ethiopian nationality if he/she:
A. Has attained the age of majority according to the law of the country;
B. Has lived at least for five years in Ethiopia;
C. Can earn his/her living (for himself and his family)
D. Can read and write the Amharic language; and
E. Produces evidence to the effect that he/she has not been previously convicted of a
crime.
Notwithstanding non-compliance with the five-year residence requirement, the Ethiopian
government may, pursuant to the October 5, 1932 amendment, according to Ethiopian
nationality to a foreign applicant, if he is deemed to be useful to the country or if there are
some special reasons for granting it to him.
Thus, the Ethiopian nationality can be acquired and lost, has minimized the instances in which
problems of statelessness and dual (multi) nationality may occur.
Citizenship in the 1995 FDRE constitution
The laws of citizenship in Ethiopia begin from the constitution. What does the Constitution
say about citizenship? Article 6 of the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia declares that any person of either sex shall be an Ethiopian national where both or
either parent is Ethiopian. So the constitution enshrines the principle of jus sanguinis if a
child is born to an Ethiopian mother or an Ethiopian father. He/she is an Ethiopian irrespective
of where he/she is born. The Constitution also provides for naturalization in general terms.
The particular or the details of nationality laws of Ethiopia are legislated in the Ethiopian

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Nationality Proclamation No. 378/2003. In this proclamation (article 3), the principle of
nationality by descent is provided- ‘Any person shall be an Ethiopian national by descent
where both or either of his parent is Ethiopian’. In addition, any infant who is found
abandoned in Ethiopia shall be deemed to have been born to an Ethiopian parent and shall
acquire Ethiopian nationality. But if it is proved, the infant has a foreign nationality like by
proving that his parents are foreigners he/she shall not acquire Ethiopian nationality
automatically.
In this proclamation, a person may acquire nationality by law, that is, through naturalization.
A person can become a naturalized citizen of Ethiopia through many ways. The application
must be made to the National Affairs Committee that shall provide its recommendation to the
Security, Immigration and Refugee Affairs Authority which shall have the power to give
decision to accord nationality.
1- By application: any foreigner may acquire Ethiopian nationality by law. Where the
foreigner applies to obtain Ethiopian nationality, the following criteria must be met.
 He/she must have attained the age of majority and be legally capable under the Ethiopian
law.
 He/she must have established his domicile (permanent residence) in Ethiopia and has
lived in Ethiopia for a total of at least four years preceding the submission of his
application.
 He/she must be able to communicate in any one of the languages of the Country.
 He/she must have sufficient and lawful source of income to maintain himself and his
family
 He/she must be a person of good character
 He/she must have no record of criminal conviction,
 He/she must be able to show that he has been released from his previous nationality or
the possibility of obtaining such a release up on the acquisition of Ethiopian nationality or
that he is a stateless person (this is to avoid dual nationality) and He/she must be required
to take the oath of allegiance.

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 2- By marriage: a foreigner who is married to an Ethiopian national may acquire
Ethiopian nationality by the marriage if it is lawful marriage;
 The marriage has stayed for at least two years:
 The applicant for the nationality has lived for at least a year before application to
the Ethiopian nationality,
 He/she must be of age and legally capable
 He/she is released from his nationality or is to be soon released or is a stateless
person (this is to avoid dual nationality)
3- By Adoption: a child adopted by Ethiopian national may acquire Ethiopian nationality by
law if;
 The child has not attained the age of majority.
 The child lives in Ethiopian together with his adopting parent
 Where one of his adopting parents is a foreigner; such parent had expressed his
consent in writing and;
 Where he/she is released from his/her previous nationality or the possibility of
obtaining such a release upon the acquisition of Ethiopian nationality or that
he/she is stateless.
4- Outstanding contribution or special case: a foreigner who has made outstanding
contribution to the interest of the country may acquire Ethiopian nationality although he has
not lived in Ethiopian or does not speak either of the Ethiopian languages.
Note that where a person wants to acquire nationality on the basis of naturalization, he
must take, with the exception of naturalization of an adopted child, an oath of
allegiance which states, ‘I… solemnly affirm that I will be a loyal national of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopian and be faithful to its Constitution.
5- by restoration or re-integration: a person who has lost his/her citizenship due to some
reasons may get it back if he/she fulfills conditions as laid down by the laws of the state.
These are
 Returns to domicile( a residence where a person lives permanently)

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  Renounces his/her foreign nationality, and
 Applies to the security, immigration and refugee affairs authority
3.5 MODES OF LOOSING OF CITIZENSHIP IN ETHIOPIA
There are cases that a citizen may lose his/her previous nationality due to various reasons. The
process of loosing citizenship can be either voluntary or involuntary depending on the
domestic laws of a particular state and the nature of the issue involved. As different countries
apply different citizenship laws concerning the loss of citizenship, Ethiopia has also adopted
its own laws to properly address this case.
3.5.1 The ways of loosing citizenship
A person may lose the nationality of a state in many ways. They are discussed as follows:
By Release: some countries give their citizens the right to ask to be released from their
nationality. Release occurs only when an application is made to that effect and if it has been
accepted by the country concerned
By Deprivation: a national of a country may be deprived of nationality in case of certain
happenings. Legislation of many states recognizes numerous grounds for deprivation of
nationality. For instance, if a citizen enters into foreign civil or military service without
permission, he or she may be deprived of this nationality.
By Renunciation: a person may renounce his nationality of a state. The question of
renunciation of nationality arises when a person acquires it from more than one state. In such
cases, he has an option to maintain the nationality of one state and to renounce the other. The
same rule applies in Ethiopia
By Substitution; a person may lose the nationality of a state when he or she acquires
nationality in some other states by naturalization. Even the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights of 1948 lays down under article 15(2) that no one shall be denied the rights to change
his or her nationality.
By Expiration or laps: a person may lose the nationality of a state by expiration. For
instance, some states provided by legislation that citizenship expires in case the citizen left the
country and stayed abroad for a longer period of time.

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 3.5.2 The ways of loosing citizenship in Ethiopian
No Ethiopian shall be deprived of his/her citizenship by the decision of any government unless
through Ethiopian nationality proclamation No. 378/2003 under article 19 and 20. Thus, these
articles provide how Ethiopian nationality may be lost. These are:
Renunciation: Any Ethiopian who has acquired or has been guaranteed the acquisition of the
nationality of another state has the right to renounce his Ethiopian nationality by informing the
immigration authority in the form prescribed. However the renunciation may not be accepted
if the person has not yet discharged his outstanding national obligations or where he has been
accused or convicted for a crime and he has not yet been acquitted or has not yet served.
Acquisition: Any Ethiopian who voluntarily acquires another nationality shall be deemed to
have voluntarily renounced his Ethiopian nationality. This is to avoid double nationality.
Except under involuntary acquisition of another state’s citizenship, dual citizenship is not
allowed under Ethiopian law.
3.6 The Historical Development of Citizenship in Ethiopia
The historical development of citizenship in Ethiopia has been intrinsically interwoven with
the historical development of political regimes or socio-political systems. This development
can be divided generally in to three historical Chapters. Each historical stage had and has been
contributing much to the development of a set of values on what citizenship is meant in
Ethiopia. These historical stages have been, however, remarkably different from one another
basically in their fundamental values, institutions and rules. All in all, they can be divided as
the stage of the Imperial regime, Dergs Marxist-Leninist regime and the present FDRE regime
as we shall look at each of them as follows:
3.6.1 Imperial Regime
The imperial regime was the longest regime ever to rule Ethiopia from the ancient times. The
major values created, entrenched and maintained throughout the imperial rule continued up to
the last government of the regime, Emperor Haile Selassie and he tried to institutionalize them
through the 1931 Constitution and the revised Constitution of the 1955. These two
constitutions were the symbolization of the rule and moral values that determined most

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relations between the people of Ethiopia and the ruling body as well as the relations between a
citizen and another citizen.
According to James C. N. Paul and Christopher Clapham (1972) the constitution had been a
prefect continuation of age old imperial values of “citizenship and morality” which got a clear
pronouncement in the various Articles. First of all, the first 36 Articles of the constitution
were devoted to providing the rights and privileges of the emperor as well his royal family as
specific social groups remarkably distinct from the ordinary people of Ethiopia.
They were the unreserved owners of the empire and all property but above all to the people,
who are collectively called in the constitution as “subjects” of the emperor to underscore that
they were placed under the will of the emperor by the Order of God to fulfill the wishes of the
emperor, God’s representative on earth. The value went to mean that the Ethiopian people
were the “subjects” of the emperor “personally” because his blood was different from his
which sprang from that of King Solomon.
The constitution furthermore made it clear at a number of the articles that individual
Ethiopians living in the country were “residents” with their rights were to be liable to the will
of the emperor. The value underlying this Article was that residence and nothing else was the
official attachment that an Ethiopian could have with the state.
3.6.2 Derg’s Regime.
The derg was seized the opportunities of the absence of an organized political party as an
excuse to control political power at the natural demise of the imperial regime with all its
established values surviving several generations. Derg justified all its measures on the call of
history as there were no parties to receive political power from the emperor who practically
lost almost all control over the empire due to the rising of resistance of the Ethiopian people.
Derg immediately promised solutions for the mounting contradictions that brought
the people to determination to drastically transform the old and obsolete social system that
lagged behind the level of political modernization of the governed.
Chapters 6 and 7 of the 1987 constitution were concerned with defining citizenship and
spelling out the freedoms, rights, and duties of citizens. The language was egalitarian, and

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Ethiopians were declared to be equal before the law, regardless of nationality, sex, religion,
occupation, and social or other status. They had the right to marry, to work, to rest, to receive
free education, and to have access to health care and to a fair trial. Ethiopians were guaranteed
freedom of conscience and religion. As was not the case in imperial Ethiopia, religion and the
state were proclaimed to be separate institutions. Citizens were assured the freedoms of
movement, speech, press, assembly, peaceful demonstration, and association. Regarding
political participation, citizens had the right to vote and the right to be elected to political
office. Their duties included national military service, protection of socialist state property,
protection of the environment, and observance of the constitution and laws of the country.
In spite of the attention the constitution paid to basic freedoms, until the last days of the
regime international human rights organizations were virtually unanimous in condemning the
Mengistu regime. Summary execution, political detention, torture, and forced migration
represented only some of the violations cited by these groups
3.6.2 The present FDRE regime
The Derg regime collapsed with all its values & institutions in 1991 which marked drastic &
deep value redefinition including citizenship across Ethiopia. Citizenship was redefined to be
based on rational choice, consistent with cultural identity and from below. Election, socio –
economic transformation, democracy, political participation, free market economy,
investment, peace &nonviolence has been held as national values to determine relations
between the state & citizens.
The FDRE constitution under Article 33 sub-Article two states that “Every Ethiopian national
has the right to the enjoyment of all rights, protection and benefits derived from Ethiopian
nationality as prescribed by law”. This sub-article contains within it three issues to the
advantages of an Ethiopian citizen: “rights”, “protection” and “benefits” which are to be
enjoined. What does each refer to?
Rights: include human rights recognized by the Constitution as part of FUNDAMENTAL
RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS, provided at CHAPTER THREE, PART ONE, from Article 14
up to 28 as list of individual rights for all Ethiopians as human beings. Rights also include

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usually set of group rights to be exercised by citizens commonly called “Democratic rights”.
These rights are provided with exceptional emphasis as the above once as a reaction to the
historical past of Ethiopia where undemocratic treatment of citizens by the state was a day to
day norm and practice. PART TWO, DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS has been devoted these set of
citizens’ rights from Article 29 to Article 44 of the Constitution.
Protections: are again all limitations and restrictions imposed on the government by the
Constitution in its relation with its citizens in the exercise of their rights. Protections include
those constitutionally recognized rights which need the positive contribution of the
government beyond recognition to guard them in its day to day activities. These include rights
of the individual Ethiopian who is placed under government custody or suspected of some
kind of crime. These rights are provided in the Constitution from Article 18 up to Article 28.
This however does not mean that other rights are to be out of the protection by the
government. It only means that the latter set of rights need due to their special nature the
unreserved support of the government for their exercise. The rationale behind is the state itself
could be the agent for violating constitutional rights as experiences show in pre 1991 Ethiopia.
Benefits: include material and spiritual exclusive rights and privileges provided for in the
FDRE Constitution to be enjoyed by Ethiopian citizens as opposed to the citizens of other
states. These benefits are also reserved for Ethiopian in other states because they are not the
national of that state. The FDRE Constitution is basically a constitution for Ethiopians and the
state of Ethiopia. There are however a long list of rights that are equally applicable to the
citizens of other states in Ethiopia, for they are human beings protected by the Universal
Declaration of The United Nations accepted by Ethiopia as part of its domestic laws. Benefits
are different in that they do not fall to this category, as they are applied only to Ethiopians.
The Constitution provides these set of rights at different articles like Articles 38,40,41, 42,43,
and 44,. These rights include spiritual, procedural and material benefits.

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