A law student and Communications Member of the Convention People’s Party(CPP) in the Upper East Region, Richard Adongo says, it is erroneous to conclude that, birth certificates does not confer one’s citizenship as a Ghanaian.
The Supreme Court of Ghana unanimously held that, birth certificate is not a form of identification for purposes of voters registration in the case of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) versus the Electoral Commission (EC).
The ruling written by Justice Ashie Kotey states that, a birth certificate does not link its holder to the information it contains and does not provide evidence of citizenship.
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Mr. Adongo opined that, the birth certificates cannot be undermined as a constitutional provision enshrined in the 1992 constitution of Ghana.
“The supreme court didn’t say categorically that, the birth set is not fit for purpose. The justice of the Supreme Court didn’t say that, the birth certificate does not confer citizenship. I say big no because what the Supreme Court said, was it is not enough.
The highest and the most basic form of law is the Constitution of the Republic, that is the number one law, the second law is the Act of Parliament, third is regulations made to governed institutions and others, and the fourth and the fifth is customary and the common laws”.
“These are the laws established for us in Ghana under the 1992 constitution. Now, what does the constitution say about citizenship?. Whatever the constitution says is final hence if you go into the constitution it says that, citizenship is acquired by birth in Ghana in a particular period of time.
So what the Supreme Court said in my opinion is that, indeed if you have the birth certificate it presupposes that you are a citizen but that is not enough. It is a rebuttable presumption as to whether you are a citizen or not, it is not absolute, it is not without testing and that was the Supreme Court judgment”.
Mr. Adongo, however, entreated the public to get the full judgment from the Supreme Court and make meaning out of it as the media in somewhat has misled them.
Source:|A1radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Moses Apiah|Ghana
