Trending GH: Birth certificate is a legitimate proof of citizenship – Ghanaians react to SC ruling

Some Ghanaians have punched holes in the Supreme Court’s ruling which rejected birth certificate as proof of citizenship in the ongoing voters registration exercise describing the new development as ‘inconvenient’.

According to the Apex Court’s ruling, there are some problems with using the birth certificates as a means of identification explaining that it lacks biometric features and also anyone can acquire a birth certificate without being a Ghanaian.

This among other reasons led to the rejection of the document as a form of identification in registering Ghanaians for the new voters card.

Some citizens have registered their complaints in an interview with GhanaWeb stating that ruling by the SC do not favour people who do not have passport nor the Ghana card.

They said the new development has caused them to rely on guarantors before they can register for the new voters ID card which is being undertaken across the nation.

“It was a bad idea, I don’t have a passport or the Ghana card the only thing I have is the birth certificate and I have to now depend on a guarantor. It was a wrong decision but it is already in force so we have to go by it,” said a concerned Ghanaian.

Another woman who had just completed her voters registration told GhanaWeb that, “not all of us have the passport or the Ghana card, we should have added the birth certificate since that is also a valid form of identification. I don’t see any issue with the birth certificate.

Others were of the view that the ruling was “politically motivated” and have challenged the verdict stating that the Ghana Cards and Passports were procured using birth certificates as means of identification. Thus, questions the validity of these documents.

“All that the Supreme Court said means that they have been manipulated because they didn’t do the right thing. They have been manipulated by the government and that is not the best," said Master Kwame a bus driver at Lapaz.



Some key personalities who have flawed the SC’s ruling includes, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, who in a statement questioned motive behind the ruling.

“Now that it is a law that birth certificates aren’t means of identification, will the National Identification Authority amend its requirements for procuring a Ghana Card by citizens? What happens to the validity of the Ghana Cards and Passports that were procured, using birth certificates as means of identification?” the statement read.

The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has also termed the ruling as “shallow”.

Speaking an interview he said, “For the Supreme Court to simply say that anybody who is in possession of Ghana’s birth certificate does not constitute a proper linkage of the birth certificate and the bearer is, with all due respect, shallow”.