[11] Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights forbids revoking nationality without a fair trial and due process.

[13][Notes 2] Denaturalisation may occur if a person holds dual nationality that does not meet specified exceptions; if a person obtained nationality through fraud, false representation, or concealment; if they have committed crimes against the state; if they have committed certain acts deemed disloyal; or if they no longer reside in the country.

[18] The Ngwaketse chiefdom was founded around 1700 by migrants of the Hurutshe and Kwena clans who settled among the Khalagari and Rolong peoples in the southeastern portion of what would become Botswana.

[19] Population growth and competition over control of trade routes caused warfare and fractures in the Phofu chiefdom of their traditional home in the western Transvaal region, leading to their migration.

[20] By 1750 the Ngwaketse chiefdom was a powerful and militaristic state in control of copper production, cattle raiding, and hunting near present day Kanye.

[19] These groups established trade routes from Angola to the Cape Colony to Mozambique, which led to raids to acquire cattle, furs, ivory, slaves, and other goods.

From the turn of the nineteenth century a period, known as the Difaqane, of forced migration, conflict and drought created instability for the inhabitants of southern Africa.

[19][20] In 1824, the Ngwaketse chiefdom was attacked by a large group of Kololo refugees, who had been pushed north from Maputo Bay.

[23] Women held subservient positions socially and under the law and wives and children were legally dependent on the head of the clan or household.

The Boers were repelled and eventually gave up their expansionist policies, formally recognizing territorial sovereignty of the chiefs for a decade.

Alarmed by Boer expansion and the growth of German influence in South West Africa, British missionaries and commercial entities aligned with the Tswana chiefdoms.

[25] In 1884, in response to a request for assistance by inhabitants in the territory of the Tswana people, and to protect their own interests from Boer, German, and Portuguese encroachment, the British crown established the Bechuanaland Protectorate for the area north of the Molopo River.

[29][30] When Britain extended this status over a territory, it took responsibility for both internal and external administration, including defence and foreign relations.

[35] The uniform law, which went into effect on 1 January 1915, required a married woman to derive her nationality from her spouse, meaning if he was British, she was also, and if he was foreign, so was she.

[38] The statute reiterated common law provisions for natural-born persons born within the realm on or after the effective date.

[39] For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalised.

[42] Because of a rise in statelessness, a woman who did not automatically acquire her husband's nationality upon marriage or upon his naturalisation in another country, did not lose their British status after 1933.

[43] The 1943 revision allowed a child born abroad at any time to be a British national by descent if the Secretary of State agreed to register the birth.

[47][48] Until 1934, when the British Protected Persons Order was drafted, the status of BPP was not statutory, but rather granted at the prerogative of the monarch.

[29] Under the 1934 Order, Belonger status with regard to protected territories was defined to mean persons born before or after the Order in a protectorate who possessed no nationality and were not a British subject, or persons born abroad to a native of a protectorate who were stateless and not British subjects.