Since citizenship is a matter of law and is determined by the law and the regulatory mechanisms of States, it is not a valid legal submission that a unilateral statement of renunciation of citizenship of another country should be recognized as severance of allegiance from that country. If that were plausible, persons who have complied with stringent conditions and borne considerable costs to become citizens of Ghana or another country could simply throw affidavits or Declarations at the State and deem themselves divested of citizenship if they find a reason to quickly remove the burden of that citizenship from themselves because of changed needs. There would be no need for the Certificate of Renunciation issued by the Canadian authorities to take effect from 26th November 2020. In the same way that the obtaining of alternate citizenship is done through due process and by legal means, we are satisfied that without a legal record granted by the State that conferred the alternate citizenship, persons who present themselves as having renounced their alternate citizenship cannot be accepted as having done so, unless they show an official record stating so from the alternate State. To accept such a proposition will make a mockery of the weight that Ghana and States place on the grant of citizenship other than through birth and the rights and obligations that go with holding allegiance to the State.
MICHAEL ANKOMAH NIMFAH V. JAMES GYAKYE QUAYSON, THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION & THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (2023) [2023] SLR (SC) 3 · Supreme Court · 2023 · AMEGATCHER JSC
Read it in the judgment