Assin North Dual citizenship case: Barriers to stop ousted MP is wrong- Prof. Asare
University of Florida in USA Law Lecturer and D & D Fellow in Public Law and Justice at CDD-Ghana Prof. Kweku Asare has observed that any roadblock to prevent a Ghanaian from holding public office because of dual citizenship is fundamentally wrong.
Ghana’s laws place an embargo on persons with dual citizenship from holding public offices including Chief Justice, Member of Parliament, ministerial positions, ranks in the army, Director General of Ghana Revenue Authority, Immigration, IGP and many more.
The latest observation by the law lecturer comes at the period the Cape Coast High Court has annulled results of crucial 2020 polls on grounds of dual citizenship, ordered Electoral Commission of Ghana to hold fresh election and legally stopped the Member of Parliament for Assin North James Gyakye Quayson.
Many including Prof. Kweku Asare, Minority Leader of Ghana’s Parliament have since described the judgment as a travesty of justice, very perverse, awkward and founded on little or no basis with National Communication Officer of NDC Sammy Gyamfi making a strong case that the judge took a cue from Wikipedia, a less credible and substandard source in every intellectual discourse.
Ousted MP Gyakye Quayson has since filed appeal processes to challenge the legality of the verdict and filed stay of execution to arrest the enforcement of the judge and insist he “Is still the legitimate MP for Assin North, lacing his boot to probe firebrand Kennedy Agyapong’s contempt case as a Member of the Privileges Committee of Parliament”.
Speaking in an interview monitored by African Editors in Accra on Tuesday 10 August 2021 in Accra, Prof. Asare said “There are several misconceptions on dual citizenship and insists allegiance doesn’t give automatic effects to citizenship”.
Meanwhile, a Law Lecturer at GIMPA Faculty of Law Justice Srem-Sai says it is a preserve for every country to allow dual citizenship and that a state considers many factors before reaching a decision on dual citizenship.
According to Lawyer Srem-Sai, although allegiance can be sworn in secrecy, dual citizenship is a political decision that must be taken after considering many factors.
He noted that “Let’s not deny certain legal principles to push people into accepting dual citizenship because citizenship is not an irrelevant concept. It has a purpose”.
The petitioner in the Assin North citizenship case has since filed entry of judgement but is yet to serve the Lawmaker Gyakye Quayson.
Source: africaneditors.com
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