The Right to Belong: Ending statelessness in West Africa
Published: 10/Jan/2015
Source: The Daily Guide (Ghana)
Mary, a Liberian refugee born in Liberia to Liberian parents, gave birth to a child in 2003 in Ghana where she is now resident.
The father of the child is unknown; neither can the mother trace any relative of the man who fathered her child.
According to Act 20 (1) of the Liberian Constitution, “The following shall be citizens of Liberia at birth… (b) a person born outside Liberia whose father (i) was born a citizen of Liberia (ii) was a citizen of Liberia at the time of the birth of such child and (iii) has resided in Liberia prior to the birth of such child.”
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana also states in article 7: “A person is a citizen of Ghana by birth if he was born in or outside Ghana and at the date of his birth either of his parents or one grandparent was or is a citizen of Ghana.”
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