Politics

Jomoro MP Case: MP has two dates of birth – Petitioner

By Marie Aziz Tunde

The Petitioner challenging the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro in the Western Region to produce evidence of her renounced dual citizenship in Court, has averred that the MP has two dates of birth.

According to Joshua Emuah Kofie, a native of Nuba-Mpataba in the Jomoro Constituency, Dorcas Toffey, holds a Ghanaian passport with the number G2192584, issued in Accra on October 9, 2018 with date and place of birth being May 4, 1972 and Accra respectively.

The petitioner claims that the Jomoro legislator, who is the first Respondent in the case, also holds an Ivorian passport with the number 18AR54825 issued on July 27, 2018 with date and place of birth being May 4, 1971 and Adzope in Ivory Coast respectively.

The petitioner said the first Respondent initially held an Ivorian passport with the number 16AK13363 issued on January 19, 2017 but she declared the same as missing on July 26, 2018.

The first Respondent subsequently applied and was issued with a new passport with the number 18AR154825 on which she changed her profession from student to that of Entrepreneurship.

This was contained in a reply by the petitioner to the first Respondent’s amended answer filed at the Sekondi High Court in pursuant to leave of the court dated January 25, 2022.

At the last court sitting, an application by the NDC MP to amend her answers to a petition in which she is being challenged to produce evidence of her renounced Ivorian citizenship before contesting and winning the 2020 parliamentary election, was granted by the court.

This was after the MP had filed some documents, she says is evidence of her renunciation, but the document was in French.

The court subsequently ordered the NDC MP to file the amendment of her answers to the petition within seven days.

Amended Answer

The NDC MP has accordingly filed her amended answer as directed by the Court.

She stated that at the time of filing her nomination forms to contest the parliamentary election of the Jomoro constituency she was only a Ghanaian citizen.

She explained that by Article 48 of the Nationality code and law of the identification of persons of the Ivory Coast, once a person who holds an Ivorian nationality expresses an interest in not being an Ivorian national again in order to become a national of another country, the person forfeits his or her Ivorian nationality.