"Zimbabwe is My Only Home": Douglas Coltart Rejects British Citizenship Claims Following Assault

Douglas Coltart

HARARE — Prominent human rights lawyer Douglas Coltart has broken his silence regarding his nationality, categorically stating that he holds no foreign passport and is not entitled to British citizenship. The clarification comes amid a storm of political hostility following a violent encounter at a public hearing last week.

Writing on the social media platform X, Coltart asserted that his roots on the continent trace back nearly four centuries. He revealed that his ancestors arrived in Africa in the 1600s as Huguenots—French Protestants fleeing brutal religious persecution in Europe.

“I have no right to British citizenship. My ancestors first came to Africa in the 1600s as refugees fleeing religious persecution in France,” Coltart stated. “Legally, Zimbabwe is the only country on this earth I can call home. And I love Zimbabwe!”

The debate over Coltart's identity was ignited by a harrowing incident during a public hearing for the Constitution Amendment Bill (No. 3) at the Harare City Sports Centre. Coltart was brutally assaulted and robbed of his mobile phone and prescription glasses by a mob of suspected ZANU-PF activists. Eyewitnesses at the scene reported that the attackers explicitly questioned Coltart’s nationality during the assault. One of the primary instigators has since been identified by civil society monitors as Luckmore Tinashe Gapa, a member of the ZANU PF Central Committee.

The violence has drawn a controversial response from ZANU-PF veterans. Patrick Chinamasa, the ruling party’s Treasurer, sparked further outrage by suggesting that the younger Coltart was being made to "atone" for the political legacy of his father, David Coltart, the current Mayor of Bulawayo and former Education Minister.

“As for young Doug Coltart, I regret that he has, most unfortunately and regrettably, inherited his father’s political Rhodesian Front genes,” Chinamasa wrote on X. “He is being made to unfairly atone for the colonial sins of his father.”

Legal experts and human rights defenders in Harare have condemned Chinamasa’s remarks, arguing they provide a "political justification" for vigilante violence against private citizens based on their ancestry or political affiliation.

Coltart’s reference to the Huguenots aligns with Southern Africa's colonial history, where thousands of French refugees settled in the late 17th century. By identifying as a descendant of these refugees, Coltart is positioning his identity firmly within the indigenous white African context, rather than the more recent British colonial waves. Despite the assault, Coltart has vowed to continue his legal work, emphasizing that his commitment to Zimbabwean constitutionalism remains unshaken.

Douglas Coltart citizenship Zimbabwe