Bright Simons, the vice president of IMANI Africa, has challenged the perspective of Chief Justice nominee Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo regarding the use of a birth certificate to prove Ghanaian nationality.
Simons argues that since a person is considered Ghanaian if one of their parents is Ghanaian, and the birth certificate indicates the nationality of the person’s parents, it can serve as evidence of citizenship.
In a tweet posted on Friday, May 26, 2023, Simons suggests that Justice Torkornoo’s knowledge of the country’s laws doesn’t guarantee that she is always correct.
According to him, regardless of how much judicial expertise is employed to obscure this simple fact, in Ghana, one can acquire citizenship if either parent is Ghanaian, birth certificates indicate whether either parent is Ghanaian or not … therefore, a birth certificate is PROOF of citizenship.
“Ghana people, it doesn’t matter how much judicial eminence is used to obscure this simple fact, in Ghana: A) one can obtain citizenship if either parent is Ghanaian. B) Birth Certs indicate whether or not either parent is Ghanaian. C) Ergo, a birth cert is PROOF of citizenship,” he tweeted.
Simons made these comments in response to a GhanaWeb article discussing the chief justice nominee’s remarks concerning the use of birth certificates.
During her vetting in Parliament on Friday, May 26, 2023, Justice Torkornoo explained that in Ghana, citizenship is determined by lineage rather than place of birth.
“Citizenship is a matter of law; nationality is a matter of law. In certain jurisdictions being born in that place makes you a citizen of that country. In our country being born in Ghana does not make you a citizen of Ghana.
“It is your relationship with your mother, it is your mother’s identity, it is your father’s identity. It is your lineage that determines your citizenship.
“So, that form (the Birth Certificate) is actually an international requirement, we must know where everybody is born. That form assists to know your antecedent but beyond that, your nationality is derived from the information on that form. It is not the evidence of your nationality, it is the beginning of appreciating how your nationality must be determined,” she stated while answering a question by the Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza on the Supreme Court ruling in 2020 that the birth certificate cannot be used as proof of nationality .
