Bawumia Listed As "British" On UK Companies House Website: Pressure Mounts On Him Over Dual Citizenship
- Information on UK's Companies House shows vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is listed as a "British"
- The Companies House stores information about the staff of top-tier companies and makes such information available to the public
- Dr Bawumia is said to have obtained British citizenship when he was director of the Ghana International Bank Plc
- However, another document purported to have been obtained from the UK's Companies House lists Bawumia as a Ghanaian
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The UK Companies House website has listed Ghana's vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as a British national and a former director of the Ghana International Bank Public Limited.
The Companies House is UK's executive agency that examines and stores company information and makes such information available to the public. The agency is managed by the UK's Department for Business and Trade.
Source: UGC
YEN.com.gh's search for information on "Mahamudu Bawumia" on Monday, June 12, 2023, produced the following:
Name: Mahamudu BAWUMIA
Date of birth: October 1963
Company Name: GHANA INTERNATIONAL BANK PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY (03468216)
Company status: Active
Correspondence address: House No 48, 6th Estate Road Kanda Estates, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana, (FOREIGN)
Role: Director (RESIGNED)
Appointed on: 18 October 2006
Resigned on: 15 April 2009
Nationality: British
Occupation: Banker
Find a screen grab of the information from the website below:
Source: UGC
Bawumia alleged to be breaking the law
The revelation of the information on Dr Bawumia in the UK's Companies House database follows a recent claim by Ghana's former ambassador to India Sam Pee Yalley.
Yalley disclosed that vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia holds British citizenship, in what some say flouts Ghana's law for a person holding public office.
According to the former ambassador, the vice president acquired the citizenship when he was director of the London branch of the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana International Bank Plc.
Yalley explained that there is no evidence yet that Dr Bawumia renounced his British citizenship before he was sworn in as vice president in 2017 and again in 2021.
Article 8 (2) frowns on Ghanaians with dual citizenship holding public office
The law makes it illegal for Ghanaians who hold dual citizenship to run for some public offices.
Any Ghanaian holding citizenship of another country must renounce it before standing for public office in Ghana.
Article 8 (2) of the Ghanaian constitution states as follows:
"Without prejudice to Article 94 (2) (a) of the Constitution, no citizen of Ghana shall qualify to be appointed as a holder of any office specified in this clause if he holds the citizenship of any other country in addition to his citizenship of Ghana –
a. Ambassador or High Commissioner;
b. Secretary to the Cabinet;
c. Chief of Defence Staff or any Service Chief;
d. Inspector–General of Police;
e. Commissioner, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service;
f. Director of Immigration Service; and
g. Any office specified by an Act of Parliament"
Not long ago, the Supreme Court ruled that because the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, held Canadian citizenship and had not renounced allegiance to Canada before filing to contest the legislative seat, his election was null and void.
Unverified document claims Bawumia is listed as "Ghanaian" at "UK Company House"
Meanwhile, amid the brouhaha about Dr Bawumia holding dual citizenship, a news portal has claimed that documents it has exclusively obtained show when the vice president was appointed as a director of the Ghana International Bank PLC in the UK, he was listed as a Ghanaian and not as a British.
According to Asaase News, Dr Bawumia has never held any citizenship other than Ghanaian.
"Form 288a is a Companies House form which is used to appoint a director or secretary in the UK. From 1st October 2009, Form 288a was replaced with a new Companies Act Forms AP01 and AP02," Asaase News reported.
Below is the form purportedly obtained from the UK Companies House. Meanwhile, the office of the vice president has not yet responded to the claim that was made last week.
Source: UGC
Supreme Court releases full judgement on why it ordered Gyakye Quayson's name to be expunged
In related news, YEN.com.gh reported that the Supreme Court not long ago published the full judgement on its ruling on the James Gyakye Quayson saga.
The full judgement relied heavily on 94 (2) of the Constitution to justify its ruling that Parliament must expunge the name of Quayson as MP for Assin North.
A seven-member panel of judges ruled unanimously that between October 5 to 9, 2020, Quayson was not qualified to file his nomination to contest the parliamentary elections because he still owed allegiance to Canada per his Canadian citizen status.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
