The politics of dual citizenship

The concept of dual nationality means that a person is a national of two countries at the same time. Each country has its own nationality laws based on its own policy. Persons may have dual nationality by automatic operation of different laws rather than by choice.

Dual citizenship is allowed in Ghana. This means that you can be a citizen of Ghana and also a citizen of other countries.

In 1996, the first parliament of the fourth republic amended the 1992 constitution by enacting act 527. Act 527 repealed article 8(1) of the constitution and substituted a new article 8(1), which provides that: “A citizen of Ghana may hold the citizenship of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana.”

Act 527 also inserted a new article 8(2) that did not exist in the 1992 constitution. Specifically, article 8(2) sought to exclude dual citizens from holding the following offices: (I) Ambassador or High Commissioner; (II) secretary to the cabinet (III) Chief of defense staff or any service chief (IV) Inspector general of police (v) commissioner, customs, excise and preventive service (VI ) Director of immigration service and (VII) Any office specified by parliament.

With the new power granted by Act 527, Parliament, in 2000, enacted Act 591, which expanded the offices that dual citizenship could not hold. The Act 591 exclusions include (I) Chief Justice and Justice of the Supreme Court (II) Commissioner m, Value Added Tax ( III) Director-General, Prison service (IV) Chief Fire service (V) Chief Director of a ministry (VI) the rank of a colonel in the Army or it’s equivalent in the other security services and (VII) any other public office that the Minister may be legislative instrument prescribe.

The politics of dual citizenship has become a matter of everyday discussion after the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections of which some Members of parliament citizenship has been challenged in court over dual citizenship.

The Member of Parliament for the Jomoro constituency, Dorcas Affo-Toffey, won the election petition case against her eligibility as an elected MP over her alleged Ivorian citizenship.

The Sekondi High Court presided by Justice Dr. Richmond Osei Hwere on November 21, 2022, dismissed the petition and declared the MP eligible on grounds that she lost her Ivorian citizenship at the very time she acquired her Ghanaian Citizenship.

The application was filed by one Joshua Emuah Kofie, who challenged the eligibility of the MP to contest as a representative of the people in the constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He alleged that the MP holds multiple nationalities –American and Ivorian citizenships, which violates the 1992 Constitution.

However, the MP denied having American citizenship but had Ivorian citizenship, which she said she had renounced.

James Gyakye Quayson in a similar case. The embattled Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North Constituency, James Gyakye Quayson is currently facing a legal action of a dual citizenship case initially before an Accra High Court on charges of forgery, perjury and knowingly making a false declaration.

The defiant MP has since pleaded not guilty to all three charges filed against him by the state.

The people of Assin North have since April 2022 been left without representation in Parliament.

Now there is some information circulating on social media also talking about the dual citizenship of the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia.

According to the Ghana international Bank Public Limited Company website the Vice President of Ghana was appointed as Director on 18th October 2006 and resigned on April 15, 2009 having nationality as a British.

On August 17, 2008, at mammoth rally in Takoradi to climax the delegates conference, the NPP flag bearer for the 2008 elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo in raising the left hand of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to a cheerful and jubilant crowd of the supporters confidently remarked him as his running mate.

So did Dr. Bawumia go to the 2008 elections as a citizen of UK ?

Is Dr. Bawumia going to suffer the same fate as Hon. Dorcas Affo-Toffey?

Is Dr. Bawumia name going to be Expunge from the records of Ghana as Vice President and face criminal charges in court as James Gyakye Quayson ?