Azar, the appointment of Mrs Charlotte Osei (born in Nigeria as Ms. Charlotte Kesson Smith) as the Chairperson of NCCE and her reassignment as EC Chairperson are only indication of the confusion and nonsense of the prohibitio ... read full comment
Azar, the appointment of Mrs Charlotte Osei (born in Nigeria as Ms. Charlotte Kesson Smith) as the Chairperson of NCCE and her reassignment as EC Chairperson are only indication of the confusion and nonsense of the prohibitions placed on dual citizens by the 1992 Constitution. It shows that as a nation Ghana is not serious with anything. One wonders if any due diligence on her background or citizenship was conducted prior to her first and second appointments. It’s also interesting that whilst some are compelled to renounce their dual citizenship prior to taking up such appointments, she did not go through any such renunciation. Again, whilst the nation encourages young men with Ghanaian parental origins but born abroad and citizens of countries of their birth to play for the national football team, the same is denied to Ghanaians born in Ghana with both parents being Ghanaians but only acquired another citizen by way of other circumstances as described in the article.
The restrictions serve no purpose and are also discriminatory not only by intent by in practice. The Supreme Court made a very sad mistake by affirming the restrictions that deny the country from benefiting from the full potentials of their citizens who live abroad and curtail their contribution to the national development effort.
I agree with you that being a dual citizen should not disqualify one from being appointed to all those prohibited public offices, including membership of the Legislature. By the way, there are now 275 MPs and not 230.
back door director 8 years ago
We are thinking of bread and butter issues and not your academic theatrics.
Why not invite Paul Boateng to be president of Ghana.
We are thinking of bread and butter issues and not your academic theatrics.
Why not invite Paul Boateng to be president of Ghana.
Neutral Zone 8 years ago
The soccer analogy in this discussion weakens Azar's argument on a rather serious discussion of national self identity. FIFA has well defined rules on who plays for what country n it's not a matter of when its convenient to a ... read full comment
The soccer analogy in this discussion weakens Azar's argument on a rather serious discussion of national self identity. FIFA has well defined rules on who plays for what country n it's not a matter of when its convenient to apply those rules.
Now if the argument is made that certain offices are more powerful yet are not excluded by the constitution so b it. That does not excuse leaving the appointed EC chairperson in her position if her said appointment contravenes the law of the land.
Let's do the right things for a change.
Mahmoud 8 years ago
In the recent suicide bombing that took place at a mosque in Kuwait, the security officers identified and arrested the owner of the car that took the suicide bomber to the mosque followed by the driver. From there, the invest ... read full comment
In the recent suicide bombing that took place at a mosque in Kuwait, the security officers identified and arrested the owner of the car that took the suicide bomber to the mosque followed by the driver. From there, the investigations led to the masterminds and accomplishes of the heinous crime. Why can't our security forces investigate the leads or exhibits that would lead us to the bigger picture, rather than gloss over them as if they confiscated the arms from the air? Our security forces, like the government, are trying to generalize the issue so that they could bury the truth between Azorka boys and Bolga Bulldogs in order to blindfold Ghanaians and cover the government own tracks. Ghanaians deserve better.
Jato Kaleo 8 years ago
The writer makes a passionate plea for the repeal of the rules banning dual citizens from certain offices in Ghana. Many of the reasons he mentions for doing so make sense but others are just sentimental. For instance, he say ... read full comment
The writer makes a passionate plea for the repeal of the rules banning dual citizens from certain offices in Ghana. Many of the reasons he mentions for doing so make sense but others are just sentimental. For instance, he says that no dual citizen has committed this or that crime to render... I am not very sure if he knows that. Moreover, rules cannot be made because of the empirical nature of particular offences.
Then he says also that "[r]egardless of why they have acquired these other citizenships, they have complete, total and unwavering loyalty, fidelity and allegiance to our beloved country and have amply demonstrated, through their continued involvement in our socio-political life, their commitment to joining hands with their brethren to work towards building a prosperous country for our posterity". I don't know how he came to that conclusion concerning ALL persons who have dual Ghanaian and other citizenship. Some Ghanaians take dual citizenship as a hedge against future occurrences, not because of something they have done in the past.
But what I find most lacking in the write-up is the author's failure to tell us where the line should be drawn. Should a person holding dual citizenship be allowed to occupy the highest office of the land - that of the Presidency itself? Will it be enough for such a person to only renounce his or her other citizenship in order to seek the presidency or will his "offence" of just seeking a citizenship other than that of Ghana be so grievious as to disqualify him for life, no matter the recantations he makes afterwards?
This whole issue is very sensitive. I agree with many of the writer's sentiments but it seems some of those personally caught up in the issue (those with dual citizenships or even single non-Ghanaian citizenships) fail to understand the sentimental positions of many Ghanaians (including the framers of the consititution). Our country was very recently in the doldrums. Many people jumped ship and took up citizenships of other countries they deem better than their country of birth. Now things are turning around and they want to come back to seek high ranking offices while still maintaining the option of jumping ship again when things turn bad. This may not be a very rational stance to take but, for me, I can understand the sentiments.
Ms. Charlotte Osei's case is a bit different. She wasn't born in Ghana and jumped ship when things turned bad. She was born outside, brought into the country and stayed put through all the bad times. By this reasoning, she has as much right as any Ghanaian who didn't jump ship to hold any post in Ghana she is, otherwise, qualifed for. Konadu's protestations are just pure mischief-making.
I think the provisions on dual allegiance and office holding exclusions (as the writer aptly puts it) should be revised, not repealed. Indeed, it should be overhauled and many of the exclusions released. But, surely, we cannot have a dual citizenship holder becoming president of the republic, can we?
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 8 years ago
1. On what exact statistics do you ascribe your allegation that people jumped ship because things were bad in the country?
2. On what exact statistics do you now claim that things are turning around?
3. I see your confu ... read full comment
1. On what exact statistics do you ascribe your allegation that people jumped ship because things were bad in the country?
2. On what exact statistics do you now claim that things are turning around?
3. I see your confusion when you say that you do not have a rational stance.(See your last sentence in paragraph 4).
4. The irrationality of your stance becomes clear when you agree with the exception made for Ms. Charlotte Osei. Azar is trying to say the same thing: that the law should be reviewed to accommodate the situation where people similarly situated (but not exactly situated) as Ms. Charlotte Osei should be allowed to serve their country. As the law stands, the exception made for Ms. Osei is per se unconstitutional. And your defense of this appointment is simply legal nit-picking.
5. I couldn't agree with Prof. Kwaku Asare more that to facilitate appointments such as that of Ms. Osei, the laws have to be changed first.
Neutral Zone 8 years ago
Too much English. Even the greatest democracy on earth has exclusion to certain positions.
We must b careful not to rush any changes for the convenience of a few dual citizen holders who plan to run for office.
Now, if ... read full comment
Too much English. Even the greatest democracy on earth has exclusion to certain positions.
We must b careful not to rush any changes for the convenience of a few dual citizen holders who plan to run for office.
Now, if the appointment of the EC chairperson is in conflict with the constitution as to her nationality the courts have to decide. Just file a lawsuit.
PK 8 years ago
People did not leave Ghana to work elsewhere and eventually get citizenship in that country because they don't love Ghana enough. You are implying some sort of betrayal of their loyalty to Ghana because they traveled abroad. ... read full comment
People did not leave Ghana to work elsewhere and eventually get citizenship in that country because they don't love Ghana enough. You are implying some sort of betrayal of their loyalty to Ghana because they traveled abroad. What is wrong with going abroad to make a better living and coming back home to invest what one has acquired. These people who come back are not doing so because things are NOW better in Ghana than were they lived. No. They come back home because they cannot break the umbilical cord. They have made enough fortune that will benefit them and their family and the country. That is why they come home. They could continue living the better life abroad, so we should be grateful that they are coming home to invest their wealth and their KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE. The law should be repealed, not just revised. If someone can serve as a good president, holding an American or a British dual citizenship is not what is going to pose a security threat to Ghana, if the person was born in Ghana and merely acquired the other citizenship by living an working abroad. In any case, the least we should do is revise the law.
PK 8 years ago
Very good arguments that is good for Ghanaians to take seriously. It is ridiculous to exclude Ghanaians form holding these offices when we open our arms to accept all the financial help that they poor into the country. What d ... read full comment
Very good arguments that is good for Ghanaians to take seriously. It is ridiculous to exclude Ghanaians form holding these offices when we open our arms to accept all the financial help that they poor into the country. What do we have to lose as a nation from being pragmatic, and human in dealing with our own compatriots who hold dual citizenship? People have dual citizenship because it is convenient to travel between the two countries, and because they want to be able to have certain fundamental rights in the other country in which they resided and got the second citizenship. Why should they renounce all those rights in order to hold a political position in Ghana? We are not thinking well!
Neutral Zone 8 years ago
It sounds to me that one would want the convenience of running for public office n at the same time exercise their option to bail out to the other country of comfort when things don't work out for whatever reason. That's the ... read full comment
It sounds to me that one would want the convenience of running for public office n at the same time exercise their option to bail out to the other country of comfort when things don't work out for whatever reason. That's the Ghanaian for u. Always have a corrupt mindset.
The constitution is clear on exclusion of office. The northerner who got jailed for being a dual citizen n running for office was deceitful n did that own his own accord. The EC chairperson on the other hand was appointed n if the president erred cuz due diligence wasn't done to ascertain her nationality prior to the appointment, then she should b withdrawn or better still go to court for clarification.
Neutral Zone 8 years ago
Can the Supreme Court declear portions of the constitution unconstitutional?
As a non-legal mind, the answer is NO. What say u?
Can the Supreme Court declear portions of the constitution unconstitutional?
As a non-legal mind, the answer is NO. What say u?
Abeeku Mensah 8 years ago
I do not know if you mistakenly wrote or failed to do thorough research before making the claim that Ghanaians with dual citizenship, irrespective of how citizenship is acquired, are 100 percent loyal to Ghana. You see unl ... read full comment
I do not know if you mistakenly wrote or failed to do thorough research before making the claim that Ghanaians with dual citizenship, irrespective of how citizenship is acquired, are 100 percent loyal to Ghana. You see unlike the bribery, corruption and tribal loyalties that is a Ghanaian norm or acceptable societal norm in Africa, people of civilized, industrialized western nations do not grant citizenship willy nilly to all who seek; it is a requisite requiremrnt for approved abd vetted cadidates to swear allegiance to the flag of the new nation one seeks citizenship. The swearing in ceremony for citizenship is not child's play and I will venture to describe the exercise as akin to or at par with marriage vows. It is important Ghana keep the ban in place; let those who seek to enjoy the fruits of Ghana without adequate contribution to society wait their turn. Christians do appraciate or know the wisdom in the biblical passage that forewarned against a man serving two masters. People with dual citizens ultimately become lairs at best but more so moles for the master willing to payout more in benefits. Ghanaians with dual citizebship and no skin in the game or nothing to lose if Ghana fails will and do move back to their new found homes; Ghanaian tied to Ghana by the proverbial umbilical cord do not have a choice but see Ghana through or perish. It is never in the interest of Ghana to allow people who knowingly gave up on Ghana for convenience (marriage, stay and or work in another nation never guarantee citizebship through mail delivery one applies to become citizen) and nothing more.
Do you hold dual citizenship
Azar, the appointment of Mrs Charlotte Osei (born in Nigeria as Ms. Charlotte Kesson Smith) as the Chairperson of NCCE and her reassignment as EC Chairperson are only indication of the confusion and nonsense of the prohibitio ...
read full comment
We are thinking of bread and butter issues and not your academic theatrics.
Why not invite Paul Boateng to be president of Ghana.
The soccer analogy in this discussion weakens Azar's argument on a rather serious discussion of national self identity. FIFA has well defined rules on who plays for what country n it's not a matter of when its convenient to a ...
read full comment
In the recent suicide bombing that took place at a mosque in Kuwait, the security officers identified and arrested the owner of the car that took the suicide bomber to the mosque followed by the driver. From there, the invest ...
read full comment
The writer makes a passionate plea for the repeal of the rules banning dual citizens from certain offices in Ghana. Many of the reasons he mentions for doing so make sense but others are just sentimental. For instance, he say ...
read full comment
1. On what exact statistics do you ascribe your allegation that people jumped ship because things were bad in the country?
2. On what exact statistics do you now claim that things are turning around?
3. I see your confu ...
read full comment
Too much English. Even the greatest democracy on earth has exclusion to certain positions.
We must b careful not to rush any changes for the convenience of a few dual citizen holders who plan to run for office.
Now, if ...
read full comment
People did not leave Ghana to work elsewhere and eventually get citizenship in that country because they don't love Ghana enough. You are implying some sort of betrayal of their loyalty to Ghana because they traveled abroad. ...
read full comment
Very good arguments that is good for Ghanaians to take seriously. It is ridiculous to exclude Ghanaians form holding these offices when we open our arms to accept all the financial help that they poor into the country. What d ...
read full comment
It sounds to me that one would want the convenience of running for public office n at the same time exercise their option to bail out to the other country of comfort when things don't work out for whatever reason. That's the ...
read full comment
Can the Supreme Court declear portions of the constitution unconstitutional?
As a non-legal mind, the answer is NO. What say u?
I do not know if you mistakenly wrote or failed to do thorough research before making the claim that Ghanaians with dual citizenship, irrespective of how citizenship is acquired, are 100 percent loyal to Ghana. You see unl ...
read full comment