The Member of Parliament representing Bawku Central, Mr Adamu Dramani has been forced to stand down because he holds a dual nationality as both Ghanaian and British citizenship therefore he is not entitled to hold such public office. This recent issue has prompted me to analysis Ghana’s Dual Nationality act 2000 and the current constitution. Having studied and written over ten pages long on French Constitution (the Fifth Republic) and the American Constitution, with critical comparison of both with Ghanaian Constitution, I have come to a very damning conclusion that Ghana’s Constitution is the worst and meaningless written Constitution. A Constitution is a set of rules defining the role and powers of government and state institutions. It outlines the relationship between the citizen and the state. It is a starting point where one looks to find the rights of the people and the manner in which the state or institutions are organised.
However, Ghana’s constitution cannot be said with absolute conviction that it reflects the concept of what a Constitution ought to be. For a start, the language used is too vague and complicated for a layperson to understand bearing in mind that a good written Constitution should connect the state with its citizens. In other words every layperson must understand without a shadow of any doubt as to the rights he/she has under the constitution. It must also be undeniable that all Ghanaians should and must have assess to their Constitution in any language in which they understand and it must be displayed in schools, hospitals, workplaces, police stations, homes etc. Ghana’s Constitution has failed and it does not come as a surprise that the enactment of the Dual Nationality Act 2000 proved to be meaningless and an insult to Ghanaian Diasporas who work tediously to contribute to the development of the nation.
The Dual Nationality Act 2000 states the following, article 1, “A citizen of Ghana may hold the citizenship of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana”. Though this is all good however article 2 suggests a totally discrimination and disregard for Ghanaian Diasporas continues support for the nation. Article 2 states the following, “Without prejudice to article 94(2)a of the Constitution, no citizen of Ghana shall qualify to be appointed as a holder of any office specified in this subsection if he holds the citizenship of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana.” The list of offices are “a) Chief Justice and Justice of the Supreme Court, b) Ambassador or High Commissioner, c) Secretary to the cabinet, d) Chief of Defence Staff or any Service chief, e) Inspector-General of police, f) Commissioner, Custom, Exercise and Preventive Service, g) Director of Immigration Service, h) Commissioner, Value Added Tax Service, i) Director-General, Prisons Service, j) Chief Fire officer, k) Chief Director of a Ministry, l) the rank of a Colonel in the Army or its equivalent in the other security services and m) any other public office that the Minister may by legislative instrument prescribe.”
Though, it may be acceptable that in some positions such as Head of State or Head of Security Service of the country, it is perfectly reasonable to prevent a holder of dual citizenship. However, there is no excuse in my view that Dual Citizenship holders deserve to be discriminated from holding office of any of the position mention in Article 2 of the Dual Nationality Act 2000. The only sense I could make of this Dual Nationality Act 2000 is that either the writers were thinking of saving the jobs of their political elite friends or at the time they lacked any knowledge of Ghanaian Diasporas contributions and for that matter their significance benefit for Ghana. In reality, this Dual Nationality Act 2000 makes no progressive sense and it lacks its Constitutional purpose and target. And with further analysis, it seems that the case against Mr Adamu Dramani is baseless since the Dual Nationality Act 2000 does not mention exclusion from becoming a member of parliament.
In addition, I strongly believe that the Dual Nationality Act 2000 was enacted with intent of achieving the bad result that it has. It was a calculated political decision by the elite Ghanaians who are threatened by the Diasporas whom they in their foolish and colonial minds, believe that their positions are threatened if doors are opened for Ghanaian Diasporas into the political system of Governance. They know that Ghanaian Diasporas have both internal and external experience of how things works and they know that their patriotism and self awareness of world politics will help Ghana to develop in a fast pace and they know it is dangerous for Ghanaians to be aware that some people can actually do a better job than what the political elites have been doing. I am appalled by the Dual Nationality Act 2000 writers and I sincerely believe that their intent or incompetence amount to treason. Hence in the end, their action has contributed to narrowing Ghana’s capabilities by not including and making good use of all minds and skills. I call this the conspiracy to stagnant the growth of Ghana. In order for the nation of Ghana to be as developed as Dubai, China and United State, all Ghanaians or at least all Ghanaian born who wish to serve must and should be given the opportunity to serve at all level of government and indeed if there must be an exclusive position it must make sense.
However, Ghana’s constitution cannot be said with absolute conviction that it reflects the concept of what a Constitution ought to be. For a start, the language used is too vague and complicated for a layperson to understand bearing in mind that a good written Constitution should connect the state with its citizens. In other words every layperson must understand without a shadow of any doubt as to the rights he/she has under the constitution. It must also be undeniable that all Ghanaians should and must have assess to their Constitution in any language in which they understand and it must be displayed in schools, hospitals, workplaces, police stations, homes etc. Ghana’s Constitution has failed and it does not come as a surprise that the enactment of the Dual Nationality Act 2000 proved to be meaningless and an insult to Ghanaian Diasporas who work tediously to contribute to the development of the nation.
The Dual Nationality Act 2000 states the following, article 1, “A citizen of Ghana may hold the citizenship of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana”. Though this is all good however article 2 suggests a totally discrimination and disregard for Ghanaian Diasporas continues support for the nation. Article 2 states the following, “Without prejudice to article 94(2)a of the Constitution, no citizen of Ghana shall qualify to be appointed as a holder of any office specified in this subsection if he holds the citizenship of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana.” The list of offices are “a) Chief Justice and Justice of the Supreme Court, b) Ambassador or High Commissioner, c) Secretary to the cabinet, d) Chief of Defence Staff or any Service chief, e) Inspector-General of police, f) Commissioner, Custom, Exercise and Preventive Service, g) Director of Immigration Service, h) Commissioner, Value Added Tax Service, i) Director-General, Prisons Service, j) Chief Fire officer, k) Chief Director of a Ministry, l) the rank of a Colonel in the Army or its equivalent in the other security services and m) any other public office that the Minister may by legislative instrument prescribe.”
Though, it may be acceptable that in some positions such as Head of State or Head of Security Service of the country, it is perfectly reasonable to prevent a holder of dual citizenship. However, there is no excuse in my view that Dual Citizenship holders deserve to be discriminated from holding office of any of the position mention in Article 2 of the Dual Nationality Act 2000. The only sense I could make of this Dual Nationality Act 2000 is that either the writers were thinking of saving the jobs of their political elite friends or at the time they lacked any knowledge of Ghanaian Diasporas contributions and for that matter their significance benefit for Ghana. In reality, this Dual Nationality Act 2000 makes no progressive sense and it lacks its Constitutional purpose and target. And with further analysis, it seems that the case against Mr Adamu Dramani is baseless since the Dual Nationality Act 2000 does not mention exclusion from becoming a member of parliament.
In addition, I strongly believe that the Dual Nationality Act 2000 was enacted with intent of achieving the bad result that it has. It was a calculated political decision by the elite Ghanaians who are threatened by the Diasporas whom they in their foolish and colonial minds, believe that their positions are threatened if doors are opened for Ghanaian Diasporas into the political system of Governance. They know that Ghanaian Diasporas have both internal and external experience of how things works and they know that their patriotism and self awareness of world politics will help Ghana to develop in a fast pace and they know it is dangerous for Ghanaians to be aware that some people can actually do a better job than what the political elites have been doing. I am appalled by the Dual Nationality Act 2000 writers and I sincerely believe that their intent or incompetence amount to treason. Hence in the end, their action has contributed to narrowing Ghana’s capabilities by not including and making good use of all minds and skills. I call this the conspiracy to stagnant the growth of Ghana. In order for the nation of Ghana to be as developed as Dubai, China and United State, all Ghanaians or at least all Ghanaian born who wish to serve must and should be given the opportunity to serve at all level of government and indeed if there must be an exclusive position it must make sense.
