One Republic, One Allegiance: The Case for Renouncing Before Serving

One Republic, One Allegiance: The Case for Renouncing Before Serving

The government’s plan to implement the Constitutional Review Committee’s recommendation to allow dual citizens to hold almost every public office, except President and Vice President, deserves serious public scrutiny.

Proponents argue that Ghana is shutting out talent. Many professionals in the diaspora, they say, cannot serve because they hold another passport. In an era of brain drain, we need all hands on deck.

That sounds reasonable. But the proposal creates a fundamental contradiction.

If the reason dual citizens cannot be President or Vice President is the need for undivided loyalty to Ghana, why does that concern vanish when we talk about the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief Justice, the Inspector General of Police, or Cabinet Ministers?

These are the very offices that guard our sovereignty, interpret our laws, and manage our security. If divided allegiance is a risk at the top, it is also a risk one step below.

Public office is not a job. It is a public trust. To hold sovereign authority, one must owe allegiance to one Republic alone.

Let us be clear: this is not an argument against the diaspora. Ghana must leverage the skills, capital, and networks of Ghanaians abroad. We should expand advisory roles, technical appointments, and investment channels for them.

But for constitutional offices, we must draw a line. The fair compromise is simple: if you wish to occupy high office, renounce other citizenships before swearing in. You are not barred from serving. You are only asked to make the same undivided commitment we require of the President.

Several democracies already do this. The US, Nigeria, and Kenya restrict dual citizens from sensitive security and judicial positions. It is not about exclusion. It is about protecting the integrity of the state.

We cannot say loyalty matters for the President but not for the general, the judge, or the police chief. Either it matters, or it does not.

As we amend the Constitution, let us choose clarity: One Republic. One Allegiance.

_The writer

A.K. Zabari Jnr

youth advocate and policy analyst