THE LAW OF CITIZENSHIP IN GHANA

WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP?
Basically, citizenship is the legal relationship of a person to a state resulting from such sources
as birth, adoption, naturalization, marriage etc.
Some incidences of citizenship are rights, duties, loyalties and allegiance. There is no
unanimity among States as to who a citizen of a state is, hence this lies within the exclusive
preserve of the sovereign state to decide what constitute citizenship in that state. Therefore to
know who is a citizen of Ghana, there should be recourse to our domestic law. The current law
can be found under Chapter 3, 1992 constitution as amended by Act 527 and the Citzenship
Act, 2000 (Act 591).
There are two basic principles that inform nationality laws around the world. These are birth
and descent. Thus, lex soli (place of birth or Lex sanguinis (blood). Whilst some countries may
opt for either principle, in Gh, we have a mixture.

Our laws recognize three categories of nationals :

• Ghanaians by birth
• Ghanaians by naturalization and
• Ghanaians by registration
CITIZENSHIP BY BIRTH
• Before 6th March 1957 : A person born before 6th March, 1957 is a citizen by birth if he was
born in Ghana and one parent or grandparent was born in Ghana or He was born outside Ghana
and one of his parents was born in Ghana. –Section 3 of Act 591, 2000.
• After 6th March 1957 but before 22nd August 1969: A person born on or after 6th March
1957 but before 22nd August 1969 is a citizen of Ghana by birth if
- He was born in or outside Ghana and either of his parents and one grandparent / great
grandparent was born in Ghana-4(1)a
- He was born in Ghana and neither of his parents were born in Ghana but one grandparent was
born in Ghana-Section 4(1)b
- A person is not a citizen in this case if at the time of birth the parent or grandparent through
whom s/he is claiming citizenship had lost his Ghanaian citizenship-4(2)
- 4(3) A person born n or after 6th March 1957 and before 22nd August 1969 is a citizen of Ghana
by birth if
- a. he was born in Ghana and at the timer of his birth either of his parents was a citizen of Ghana
by registration or naturalization; or
- b. he was born outside Ghana and at the time of his birth both of his parents were citizens of
Ghana by registration of naturalization.
• A person born on or after 6th March 1957 but before 22nd August 1969 is a citizen by birth if
- He was born in Ghana and one parent was Ghanaian by registration or naturalization
- He was born outside Ghana and both parents were Ghanaians by registration or naturalization.
• After 22nd August 1969 but before 24th September 1979: A person becomes a citizen of
Ghana by birth if born after 22nd August 1969 but before 4th September 1979 and at the date of
his birth either of his parents was a citizen of Ghana –Section 5 of Act 591.
• After 24th September 1979 but before January 7th , 1993 : A person born on or after 24th
September 1979 but before 7th January 193 is a citizen by birth if
- He was born in Ghana and at the time of his birth one parent or grandparent was or is a citizen
- Born outside Ghana and at the time of birth one parent was a citizen- Section 6
 • On or After January 7th 1993 : Born in or outside Ghana on or after 7th January 1993 and
one parent or grandparent was or is a citizen of Ghana-Section 7 , and Article 6(2).
FOUNDLINGS
A foundling is a person of not more than seven years of age found in Ghana and whose
parentage is unknown. The constitution creates a presumption of citizenship for foundlings.
Article 6(3) provides; -section 8
“A child of not more than seven years of age found in Ghana whose parents are not
known shall be presumed to be a citizen of Ghana by birth”.
See also section 8 of Citizenship Act, Act 591
CITIZENSHIP OF ADOPTED PEOPLE
A child of not more than 16 years of age, neither of whose parents are a citizen who is adopted
by a Ghanaian becomes, by virtue of the adoption, a citizen of Ghana.-Article 6(4) ; Section 9
of Act 591.
CITIZENSHIP BY REGISTRATION (Article 7 & 9 of the Constitution; Sections 10-12 of
Act 591)

A. A person can acquire a citizenship of Ghana by registration in a number of ways pursuant to

section 10 of Act 591 and article 9 of the constitution. Article 9(1) and (2) provides

“(1) Parliament may make provision for the acquisition of citizenship of Ghana by persons who
are not eligible to become citizens of Ghana under the provisions of this Constitution.
(2)Except as otherwise provided in this article & of this Constitution, a person shall not
be registered as a citizen of Ghana unless at the time of his application for registration he
is able to speak and understand an indigenous language of Ghana.”

A citizen of full age and capacity of an approved country may upon an application and with
approval of the president of Ghana be registered as a citizen of Ghana. For such an application
to be successful, the minister must be satisfied that;

• the applicant is of good character.

• Ordinarily resident in Ghana
• Has been so resident in Ghana throughout the period of five years immediately before
the application (however, it is possible for the minister to shorten the period)
• Can speak and understand an indigenous language of Ghana

A A person who is not a citizen and who is or was married to a Ghanaian may on an application
in the prescribed manner above be registered as a citizen

B. A person who was not a Ghanaian but married to a person who was a Ghanaian at the time of
the death of that person may apply to be registered as a citizen
C. A child of a marriage of a person registered as a citizen of Ghana shall continue to be a citizen
of Ghana unless the child renounces his or her citizenship.

In other to check possible abuse of citizenship by registration on ground of marriage, the

minister may require the applicant to satisfy that the marriage was done in good faith and not
for convenience

Before a person can be registered as a citizen, the person must subscribe to the oath of
allegiance
 CITIZENSHIP BY NATURALISATION
The rules pertaining to citizenship by naturalization are provided for under sections 13 and 14
of Act 591.

A certificate of naturalization may be granted to a person by the Minister of Interior after he

has met the ff qualification;

• He has resided in Ghana throughout the period of 12 months immediately preceding the date
of application.

• During the 7years immediately preceding the period of 12 month has resorted in Ghana for
periods in aggregate not to be less than 5years.

• That he is of good character as attested to in writing by 2 Ghanaians who are notary public,
lawyer or public officers
• That he has not been sentenced to a period of imprisonment in Ghana or anywhere to an officer
recognized by law in Ghana.
• That he is able to speak and understand an indigenous Ghanaian language.

• That he is a person who has made or who is capable of making a sustainable contribution to
the progress or advancement in the area of national activity.

• That he is a person who has been assimilated into the Ghanaian way of life or who can be easily
assimilated.

• That he intends to reside permanently in Ghana in the event of a certificate being granted.

• That he possessed a valid resident permit on the date of application. See Sections 13 and 14 of
Act 571

DUAL CITIZENSHIP/MULTIPLE CITIZENSHIPS

It is a legal status by which a person simultaneously becomes a national of two sovereign states.
This may arise as a result of a country’s parliamentary enactment, as pertains in Ghana or may
result from the refusal of the state of original citizenship to recognize renunciation of original
citizenship.
Dual citizenship was proscribed since independence. This position, has, however been reversed
by the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 1996 (Act 527) which amends
Article 8(1) of the 1992 Constitution to now read “A citizen of Ghana may hold the citizenship
of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana.”

A dual citizen is disqualified pre-emptorily from holding certain positions. Section 16(2). as
well as Article 8(2) of the Constitution as amended by the Constitution of the Republic of
Ghana (Amendment) Act, 1996 (Act 527) provides for these positions.

The positions under section 16(2) are:

(1 ) Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court;

(2) Ambassador or High Commissioner;

 (3) Secretary to the Cabinet;

(4) Chief of Defence Staff or any Service Chief;

(5) Inspector-General of Police;

(6) Commissioner, Custom, Excise and Preventive Service;

(7) Director of Immigration Service;

(8) Commissioner, Value Added Tax Service;

(9) Director-General, Prisons Service;

(10) Chief Fire Officer;

(11) Chief Director of a Ministry;

(12) the rank of a Colonel in the Army or its equivalent in the other security services;
and

(13) any other public office that the Minister may by legislative instrument prescribe.

As could be observed, whiles parliament sought to give effect to Article 8(2) under section
16(2) of Act 591, it added unto the list (the additions of 1,8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13) and that was
among the issues faced by the Supreme Court in Prof. Kweku Asare v Attorney-General. The
court by majority decision, upheld the challenge to the additions, however the court dismissed
as discriminatory the challenge that the prevention of those persons from holding public offices
were unconstitutional.

Under section 16(3) of Act 591, A citizen who

a. loses his Ghanaian citizenship as a result of the acquisition or possession of the citizenship of
another country shall on the renunciation of his citizenship of that country become a citizen of
Ghana;
b. acquires the citizenship of another country in addition to his Ghanaian citizenship shall notify
in writing the acquisition of the additional citizenship to the Minister in such form and such
manner as may be prescribed.

Under section 16(5) of Act 591,a citizen who lost his citizenship as a result of the law in Ghana
which prohibited the holding of dual citizenship may on an application to the Minister be issued
with a certificate of citizenship which shall be effective from the date of issue.

A dual citizen is subjected to the laws of Ghana as any citizen of Ghana. This sometimes poses
problems regarding diplomatic protection and sovereignty.
A dual citizen of Ghana is entitled:
• to be issued with a Ghanaian Passport
• to be allowed to stay in Ghana unconditionally
• if he entered with a Ghanaian passport
 To prevent possible abuse of dual citizenship, regulation 12 of L.I. 1690 creates an offence
where a Ghanaian Passport is used by a dual citizen with the passport of another country
interchangeably.

PROFESSOR STEPHEN KWAKU ASARE VRS. ATTORNEY-GENERAL [2012]

SCGLR

FACTS: The plaintiff argued that section 16(2) of Act 591 is unconstitutional because: First,
the said section contravenes the letter and spirit of Article 17 and thus discriminates against a
Ghanaian citizen who has acquired the citizenship of another country by disqualifying the
citizen from holding any of the offices specified therein. The plaintiff argued further that the
said section flies in the face of Article 15(1) as it singles out Ghanaians who have acquired
citizenships of other countries and treat them in a way that violates their dignity as human
beings and doubt their status as honest citizens capable of holding high office. Again it deprives
a person of the right to participate fully in the affairs of the state whilst violating the principle
of equal citizenship which is a bedrock of the Constitution.
The plaintiff further sought a declaration that section 16(2) is null and void as it delegates
excessive , unnecessary and unreasonable power to the Minister of Interior to ban citizens who
have acquired the citizenship of other countries from holding any public office that the Minister
may prescribe. That it is discriminatory for a dual citizen to obtain a dual citizenship card. The
plaintiff further submitted that the purported amendment of Article 8(2) of the Constitution of
the Republic of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 1996 (Act 527 imposing public office –holder
exclusions on certain citizens of Ghana is defective, null and void and therefore
unconstitutional and therefore prayed the SC to strike it down. The plaintiff’s argument in
respect of Article 8(2) was that it constituted a purported amendment of the Constitution which
was never valid because it infringed Articles 17, 15 and 55(10). Accordingly, the procedure for
amending entrenched clauses as provided for under Article 290 should have been followed.
ISSUES:
• Whether Article 8(2) is unconstitutional
• Whether the SC can strike down a provision in an Act amending the Constitution which is
inconsistent with an entrenched provision of the Constitution.
• Whether Article 8(2) is inconsistent with Article 15(1) (Dignity Clause)/ 17
• Whether the ban on holding the indicated public offices stipulated under Article 8(2) restricts
the right to political participation.
• Whether the additional offices added to Article 8(2) by section 16(2) of Act 591 is
constitutional and whether the power granted the minister to expand on 16(2) as provided under
16(2)(m) is constitutional
HOLDING (MAJORITY) :
• Majority of Ghanaian citizens who acquired a foreign nationality prior to the enactment of the
impugned article 8(2) ended up losing their Ghanaian citizenship. The present Article 8(2) has
rather sought to cure this mischief by not disentitling a Ghanaian citizen who acquires another
citizenship from his Ghanaian citizenship. Compared to the pre-existing law, article 8(2) does
not introduce greater inequality, loss of dignity or deprivation of rights of political participation
into the 1992 Constitution and therefore does not deserve to be struck down as unconstitutional,
even though it limits the rights of dual nationals.
• Where an enactment is enacted following the right procedure but the said enactment is
inconsistent with the constitution, the SC has power under Article 2(1) to strike the said
enactment down as unconstitutional.
• Human dignity is often intertwined with equality issues and as such it is better to approach the
issue (concerning article 15(1)) on the basis of equality rather than in terms of human dignity
• The mere fact that “sole” citizens and dual citizens are treated differently is not necessarily a
breach of article 17 of the Constitution. The determinative issue is whether the differentiation
in their rights is constitutionally justifiable by reference to the object that is sought to be served
by the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 1996 (Act 527)). In short,
inequality in rights simpliciter is not a sufficient basis for declaring the unconstitutionality of
the rights complained of. Nartey v Gati cited.
Per Date Bah “A state, even a democratic one, is entitled to adopt measures to secure the
loyalty of its citizens to it. If there is a limited differentiation in the rights of classes of its
citizens with a view to attaining this objective of putting in place a framework conducive to
loyalty, can it be said that the differentiation is not based on a justifiable rationale? Whilst an
individual may or may not agree with Parliament on the wisdom of this legislative intention, I
do not think hat one can reasonable reach the conclusion , on the facts of this case, that the
legislative object is not constitutionally justifiable in the public interest. In my view, ,this
evident legislative purpose is legitimate.”
“My interpretation of article 17 above is tantamount to holding that the legislative purpose
implied in the impugned article 8(2), namely, the devising of a putative framework for loyalty
is not irreconcilably in conflict with the letter and spirit of article 17, whether or not that
framework is logically flawed.”
• The citizen’s inalienable rights to political participation under the 1992 Constitution is not
absolute. Article 55(10) is part of the directive principles of state policy which proceeds from
a presumption of justiciability as held in the Lotto case and hence has to be construed subject
by analogy to the qualification contained in article 12(2) that such freedoms are to be enjoyed
“subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest.” The
majority held thus that the disqualification of dual citizens form holding the offices mentioned
in Article 8(2) does not constitute such a denudation of their political rights as to infringe their
right , pursuant to article 55(10) to participate in political activity intended to influence the
composition and policies of the Government.
Per Date-Bah “ In my view, the spirit of the Constitution imposes a limit on the legislative
discretion thus conferred. For instance, if Parliament were to enact a law specifying that dual
citizens are disqualified from all public office, that would be an unconstitutional infringement
of article 55(10).”
• As far as the additional specified posts are concerned, the exclusion of dual nationals from
those particular posts is not a sufficient derogation from their right to participate in political
activity as to lead to unconstitutionality. The weight of the posts from which dual nationals are
excluded , compared to the range of public posts for which dual nationals remain eligible is
such that on a balance the right of dual nationals to participate in political activity ahs been
infringed. Moreover “the posts in question are not even political, although it has to be admitted
that the holders of them can affect the policies of government.”
• Section 16(2)(m) of the Citizenship Act 2000 (Act 591) is void as conferring excessive,
unnecessary and unreasonable power in excess of Parliament’s authority on the Minister of the
Interior to ban dual citizens from holding any public office that the Minister may prescribe.
This delegated Ministerial authority is subject to abuse and would not have the protective
process of Parliamentary debates which attend the passage of a Bill into an Act.
• The rights of citizenship of dual nationals are unconditional. Accordingly, any administrative
procedures or practices or subsidiary legislation which seek to impose fetters or conditions on
the exercise by dual nationals of their rights as citizens are unconstitutional. Under section
8(1) the holding of another citizen by a Ghanaian in any country does not come with any
conditions. The fact that article 8(2) imposes certain exclusions from office on dual nationals
 does not make their rights conditional. The SC reasoned that to the extent that the
administrative requirement referred to is mandatory and conditions the exercise of the rights of
dual citizens on it is unconstitutional. However if the card is intended to be optional and to ease
the exercise by dual nationals of their rights, then it would be constitutional. “Dual nationals
are citizens by operation of the Constitution and do not need any mandatory documents before
exercising their rights of citizenship, in the same way as sole citizens do not need any
mandatory documents before exercising their rights as citizens.”
OTHER POINTS OF NOTE UNDER ACT 591
• Under section 20 of Act 591, a person who is unsure of his citizenship may apply to the Minister
of Interior for a certificate on his citizenship status. A certificate by the minister confirming his
Ghanaian citizenship is prima facie evidence of his citizenship at the date indicated on the
certificate .

• In terms of section 24 of Act 591, where a person is born aboard a resigetered ship or aircraft
or aboard an unreigstrered ship or aircraft of the government of any country, the persona shall
be deme dot have been born in the place in which the ship or aircraft was registered or in that
country.
LOSS OF CITIZENSHIP
It must be noted that, under section 18 of Act 591, a person who is a citizen of ghana by birth
or adoption cannot be deprived of his citizenship.
A Citizen of Ghana can lose his citizenship however :
• Through Renunciation as provided for under section 17 of Act 592.
• Involuntary loss or deprivation or forfeiture of citizenship. See section18
Under section 18, the Attorney-General can apply to the High Court for a person to be deprived
of his citizenship on one of two grounds :

a. That the activities of the person are inimical to the security of the state or prejudicial to the
public morality or the public interest, or

b. That the citizenship was acquired by fraud, misrepresentation or any other improper or
irregular practice.
CONCLUSION
In the case of Shalabi v the Attorney General, Hayfron Benjamin J as he then was, quoting
from a U.S. case, wrote;

“In Perez v. Brownell 356 U.S. 44 (1958) Warren C.J. in a dissenting judgment said at pp.
64-65:

"Citizenship is man's basic right for it is nothing less than the right to have rights.
Remove this priceless possession and there remains a stateless person, disgraced and
degraded in the eyes of his countrymen. He has no lawful claim to protection from any
nation, and no nation may assert rights on his behalf. His very existence is at the
sufferance of the state within whose borders he happens to be. In this country the
expatriate would presumably enjoy, at most, only the limited rights and privileges of
aliens, and like the alien he might even be subject to deportation and thereby deprived of
the right to assert any rights. This government was not entrusted with power to decree
this fate.
The people who created this government endowed it with broad powers. They created a
sovereign state with power to function as a sovereignty. But the citizens themselves are
sovereign, and their citizenship is not subject to the general powers of their government.
Whatever may be the scope of its powers to regulate the conduct and affairs of all persons
within its jurisdiction, a government of the people cannot take away their citizenship
simply because one branch of that government can be said to have a conceivably rational
basis for wanting to do so."