Chairman of Groupe Nduom, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has waded into the conversation on the amendment of the dual citizenship law in Ghana that currently bans individuals with dual citizenship from holding some public offices.
According to Dr Nduom, it is immature to hold the assertion that individuals who hold allegiance to another country aside from Ghana will derail the growth of the country.
He argued that, the destruction of the currently, is being executed by individuals who have sworn allegiance to Ghana.
“The people who have let the country down, committed treason by overthrowing the government, destroying our institutions and messing up our economy are not dual citizens. Most of them had never set one foot outside the Ghanaian borders. Yet a number sold the country’s assets to foreigners,” Dr Nduom said.
He argued that the law in its current form is needless and needs to be amended as he stressed that “Many dual citizens know the ways of a foreign land and the benefits of living in those countries and yet choose to come back home to Ghana to serve the nation. They send valuable cash home. They build homes and even start companies that give jobs to Ghanaians”.
Dr Nduom wondered why dual citizens are recruited to play in the National Football Team for Ghana and hold national flags in support of the country, yet are restricted from holding public offices to contribute to the development of the country.
“We go and recruit footballers born in other countries to come and play for the Black Stars. For many people, nothing can be more of a sensitive national position than being a member of the Black Stars. Yet we trust foreign-born people to carry the national flag in the sports arena.
So if tomorrow, Papa Kwesi Nduom becomes a dual citizen by taking on American citizenship in addition to the Ghana one, someone will question my loyalty to Ghana? Me? Tell me, who can say they love Elmina more than I do and have a more vested interest in the town than this man?” He quizzed.
The conversation around the amendment of the law came up strongly after former President John Dramani Mahama promised to get the law amended when he becomes President again.
The 1992 Constitution in Article 94 (2A) states that “a person shall not be qualified to be a Member of Parliament if he – (a) owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana”.