Jomoro MP Has 2 Dates Of Birth

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 stated 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 number G2192584, issued in Accra on October 9, 2018, with the date and place of birth stated as 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 number 18AR54825 issued on July 27, 2018, with her 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 same as missing on July 26, 2018.

The first respondent subsequently applied and was issued with a new passport with number 18AR154825 on which she changed her profession from student to entrepreneur.

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

It would be recalled that 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 was 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.

She stated that in 2019, before filing her nomination forms to contest the December 2020 parliamentary elections, she had officially written to the Ivorian authorities informing them that she forthwith ceased to be an Ivorian national.

“Therefore, by the operation of Article 48 of the nationality code of Ivory Coast, I ceased to be an Ivorian national in compliance with Article 94 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution to contest the Jomoro seat,” she noted.

Petitioner’s Response

However, in his reply to the respondent’s amended answer, the petitioner stated that the alleged renunciation of the Ivorian nationality by the MP in the year 2019, never happened.

He said the claim by the first respondent was a disingenuous afterthought.

He contended that even if the first respondent submitted any such letter as alleged, the mere submission of any such letter did not strip the MP of her Ivorian nationality.

He stated, “At the time the MP filed her nomination forms, she was a full-fledged Ivorian national and thus owed allegiance to that country.”

“She was therefore not qualified to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections,” the petitioner stressed.

Meanwhile, the court is yet to fix a new date for subsequent hearing of the case.

Background

Joshua Emuah Kofie from Nuba-Mpataba in the Jomoro Constituency is challenging Dorcas Toffey to produce evidence of her renounced dual citizenship in a Sekondi High Court.

According to Kofie, the MP was not qualified to contest as the people’s representative in the country’s legislative assembly.