It is often at election time when questions around nationality come to the fore – when the meaning of citizenship is challenged in its fullest sense of the right to participate in public affairs of a country. There are many well-known cases of politicians whose right to nationality in the country where they wish to stand for office has been brought into question. Some of these have been litigated up to the level of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, but less-well known cases arise with almost every election. Elections also see regular assertions that certain groups of potential voters have been registered to vote even though they are not citizens.
MONROVIA – Her US citizenship has been an issue of discussion since she was announced Liberia’s Ambassador-designate to the United States and later the United Kingdom. Report by Henry Karmo, henry.karmo@frontpageafricaonline.com Reports say her nomination as Liberia’s ambassador to the US was…
Bronwen Manby takes us through her new book Citizenship in Africa: The Law of Belonging. In an important contribution to the literature on statehood, citizenship and identity in Africa, this piece highlights the importance of formal legal frameworks and contests over citizenship…
By Feyi Fawehinmi I was never a fan of the now former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun. I’m also not a fan of the NYSC programme – as I wrote here in December 2016, the programme is an immoral and unfair…
La Cour constitutionnelle de la RDC a validé lundi la candidature de l’ancien Premier ministre Samy Badibanga à la présidentielle. Mais la polémique autour du recouvrement de sa nationalité congolaise est loin de s’estomper. Samy Badibanga a finalement été repêché.…
Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila’s siblings are said to hold Tanzanian nationality while seeking electoral positions, circumstances the ruling party is using to eliminate some opponents ahead of the December 23 general elections. According to La Libre Afrique,…
Hubert Leclercq Les élections présidentielle, législatives et provinciales en République démocratique du Congo sont toujours annoncées pour le 23 décembre prochain. Avec qui sur la grille de départ ? Pas de réponse définitive, pour l’instant, à cette question. Pour la…
A Supreme Court justice nominee, Nene Abayaateye Ofoe Amegatcher, has said that the 1992 Constitution must be amended to allow Ghanaians with dual citizenship to take up ministerial or other positions of trust to contribute their quota to the development…
Dual citizenship which is forbidden by law is generating debates across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Minister of Justice, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, earlier in the week said a list of Congolese persons holding second nationality had been transferred to…
Kenyan opposition politician, Miguna Miguna, has declared that, in two weeks time, he will make a third attempt to return to the East African nation. Miguna, who officiated the symbolic inauguration of opposition leader Raila Odinga as the people’s president…
A l’approche des échéances électorales, la Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante (CENI) est à pied d’œuvre pour recenser les togolais en âge de voter et établir des cartes d’électeurs qui seront utilisées à cet effet. Cependant, comment pourrait-on constituer un fichier…