Private legal practitioner and KPMG Professor at the University of Florida, Stephen Kwaku Asare has backed calls on government by Ghanaians in the diaspora to reconsider the laws surrounding dual citizenship to enable them participate fully in political activities in the country.
Speaking at a workshop on Plural Citizenship, Allegiance, Exclusions and Political Participation he argued that an individual’s possession of multiple citizenship does not undermine the allegiance of the person, stressing that the two should not be confused.
Prof. Kwaku Asare cited former President Rawlings as an apt example of an individual who despite being a dual citizen effectively carried out his role at the Presidency during his tenure.
He added that Ghanaians in the diaspora have the ability to contribute immensely to the development of the country and hence urged government to pursue and partner them. The outspoken lawyer also noted that it was unfair on the part of government to exclude the diasporans from the political activities since they still get affected by laws passed in the country.
“I’m pushing for the inclusion of all Ghanaians in the political space and therefore I’m calling on Parliament and I’m calling on the people to repel all laws that exclude some Ghanaians from political participation when those Ghanaians have not committed any crimes or for that matter have committed any thoughts. The mere possession of the citizenship of another country is not proof that one cannot serve in Ghana and I gave the example of President Rawlings who himself admitted under oath that he’s a dual citizen and served very well as President of Ghana from 1992 to 2000 and before that was the chairman of the PNDC from 1982 to 1991,” Prof. Asare noted.
He admonished government to review the Article 94(2A) of the 1992 constitution, Article 8(2) of the constitution as amended in 1996, section 16 of Act2000 (the citizenship act) and then section 959 the Special Prosecutor’s Act that exclude people who owe allegiance from other countries from serving as Special Prosecutor.
