Former acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Sam Pee Yalley, has accused Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice president of Ghana, of violating the constitution by also holding a British passport.
On Thursday, June 8, 2023, Sam Pee Yalley stated during an interview on Radio XYZ that the vice president holds dual citizenship and did not renounce his British citizenship before becoming vice president of Ghana in 2017 until now.
“Now that the Supreme Court has decided that anyone who’s not citizen of Ghana cannot be a member of parliament, Bawumia’s record at the Bank of Ghana in London indicates that he is a British citizen. From way back in 2009 before ex-President Kufuor brought him to Ghana, he was the director of the international bank,” he said.
He claims that throughout the period he served as the international bank’s director, Dr. Bawumia repeatedly maintained that he was a British citizen, despite the fact that he never officially gave up his British citizenship prior to 2017. Therefore, Sam Pee Yalley is advocating for legal action to be taken against Bawumia, the same as was taken against James Gyakye Quayson.
Since the Assin North MP for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) hadn’t yet fully given up his Canadian citizenship at the time he filed his nomination with the Electoral Commission, the Supreme Court has ordered that his election be declared invalid.
After the Supreme Court’s decision, the Electoral Commission set June 27, 2023, as the date for a by-election in the Assin North constituency. Although having dual citizenship is not against the law, in order to hold some government posts in Ghana, one must renounce citizenship in another country.
