{"id":95344,"date":"2025-09-22T22:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=95344"},"modified":"2025-09-22T22:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:41:10","slug":"kofi-asmah-stop-giving-away-ghanaian-citizenship-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=95344","title":{"rendered":"Kofi Asmah: Stop giving away Ghanaian citizenship for free"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 18 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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In 2019, Ghana hosted the historic Year of Return. It was powerful, symbolic, and deeply moving: thousands of African Americans and Caribbeans traced their ancestry back to the Motherland. The government capped the year by granting 126 diaspora members Ghanaian citizenship in a ceremony full of pomp and nostalgia.<\/p>\n

Available records indicate that Ghana has granted citizenship to 624 people since 2019, including a significant number of individuals from the diaspora, with a historic ceremony in November 2024 granting citizenship to 524 people, and a 2022 event subsequently granting it to over 100 others.<\/p>\n

The Law and the Loophole<\/p>\n

Our 1992 Constitution (Article 6) and the Citizenship Act, 2000 (Act 591) allow people of African descent to apply for Ghanaian citizenship. It is a noble recognition of history \u2014 an acknowledgement of the forced severance of millions during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.<\/p>\n

Other nations long ago realised that citizenship is an economic tool. Portugal\u2019s Golden Visa has brought in more than \u20ac7 billion in foreign investment since 2012. Malta\u2019s citizenship-by-investment scheme generates hundreds of millions annually for public infrastructure. In the Caribbean, countries like St. Kitts, Antigua, and Dominica have built airports, hospitals, and schools from citizenship programmes.<\/p>\n

They understand what Ghana does not \u2013 citizenship must serve the state.<\/p>\n

The Case for a Ghanaian Golden Visa<\/p>\n

We need a bold pivot \u2014 away from free naturalisations towards a Golden Visa framework. If diaspora applicants truly love Ghana, they should be prepared to invest in Ghana\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

This does not mean abandoning Pan-African ideals. Quite the opposite. By requiring diaspora applicants to invest in agriculture, housing, renewable energy, or Ghana\u2019s bond market, we tie citizenship to nation-building. We transform a nostalgic homecoming into a concrete contribution.<\/p>\n

Imagine if the 750 new citizens since 2019 had each been required to invest even $200,000, with an option to own a house or apartment with this investment. Ghana would have raised over $150 million in direct capital, funds that could build schools, modernise hospitals, or stabilise our currency reserves, and our new citizens would have acquired a home in Ghana, which could be rented out to help address the huge housing deficit that Ghana faces.<\/p>\n

History matters. The scars of slavery and displacement cannot be ignored. But let us be honest: nostalgia will not strengthen or stabilise the cedi.<\/p>\n

Every free passport handed out without an economic obligation is a lost opportunity. A Ghanaian passport is valuable \u2014 access to ECOWAS markets, visa-free travel across Africa, and a respected global identity. Why give it away when we can use it as a vehicle to finance growth?<\/p>\n

******<\/p>\n

The writer is a lawyer and member of the Ghana Bar Association & American Bar Association, Economic Counsellor \u2013 Diaspora African Forum<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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