Who Defines A Ghanaian, The Constitution Or Passport Office?

There will be a time in my beloved country Ghana, when one must obtain a piece of note signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs as a pre-requisite for the acquisition of a passport.

The reason I made this point is that a section of Ghanaians are being denied the right to go through the normal procedures for securing a passport with ‘spiteful’ claims that the person is not a Ghanaian.

This brings us to the question, who is a Ghanaian? Articles 6-10 of Chapter three of 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana spell out various forms of obtaining citizenship which are; by birth, adoption,registration and through Parliament.To mention a few:

*Any person who was a Ghanaian citizen on the date the constitution came into force shall continue to be a citizen.

*A person born in Ghana or elsewhere, whose parent or grandparent is or was a Ghanaian, automatically becomes a citizen of Ghana from the date of his birth.

*A child of one to seven years old, found in Ghana whose parent are not known becomes a Ghanaian citizen by birth.

*A child of not more than sixteen years, whose parents are not Ghanaians but whom a Ghanaian has adopted becomes a Ghanaian citizen.

But with the Ghana Passport Office, their definition of who is a Ghanaian is quite different from what is stated in the constitution. According to them one is not a Ghanaian when;

*One has the characteristics of a Fulani
*One bares an Arabic Name.
*One comes from Nima.
*One is in hijab.
*One wears a beard.
*One has tribal marks on the face.
Just last week, a brother of mine went to the passport office in Accra and he was ‘slapped’ by the usual comments that he is not a Ghanaians just because is a Fulani. Someone who was born, and grown right here in Ghana.

To cup it up, even his grandparents were born in this country.

He schooled in government schools all his life from nursery to the tertiary.

He has paid his taxes as a good citizen.
He has a Ghanaian birth certificate, National Identification Card, Voters ID Card, NationalHealth Insurance Card yet was being denied a passport just because of mere looks or tribe.

As this brother was expressing how embarrassing the situation was, a friend chipped in saying he also went to one of the regional offices for a passport and a lady was humiliated just because she was slim and fair in complexion, obviously she was assumed to be a Fulani. Until she started speaking Gonja they never wanted to accept the fact she is a Ghanaian.

Let’s help maintain the democracy and civil rights in the country by being just and fair in our dealings.

The humiliation some people go through at the passport office is too bad and does not speak well of our nation. Just because I don’t have Efia in my name or I don’t speak any Northern language doesn’t mean I am not a Ghanaian.

In fact, these are some of the reasons why a lot of applicants go through the so called ‘goro boys’ to acquire a passport. Though it is deemed illegal, they are comfortable with that illegality than the condemnable humiliation they are made to suffer through the normal process.

To the officers who engage in these despicable acts at the Ghana Passport office, stop acting so mean and deal with issues according to the laws of the country.

Please save the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the needless stress in giving out notes to Ghanaians before they acquire a passport.

Inna Hajar Osman Diko
([email protected])