President says can take away Guyanese citizenship from those with dual citizenship

As the public debate continues over dual citizenship, President David Granger declared that as the Head of State he has the right to take away a person’s Guyanese citizenship.

The President was addressing persons gathered at a ceremony to dedicate the Department of Citizenship’s building, located at Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.

“The Constitution (of Guyana) empowers the President with the authority to deprive a dual citizen of his or her Guyanese citizenship,” the President said.

He cited Article 46 of the Constitution which states: “If the President is satisfied that any citizen of Guyana, has at any time after the 26^th of May 1966, acquired by registration, naturalization or any voluntary act (other than by marriage) the citizenship of country other than Guyana, the President may by order deprive that person of his/her [Guyanese] citizenship.”

President Granger also pointed to the provision of the Constitution which bars dual citizens from being elected members of the National Assembly.

Four of the President’s Cabinet Ministers sat in the National Assembly with dual citizenship, taking a legal oath before the elections that they were qualified to sit in the House when they were not.

They subsequently resigned after the Caribbean Court of Justice affirmed the Constitutional decree that those with dual citizenship are not eligible to sit in the house.

Those who resigned – Joseph Harmon, Carl Greenidge, Dominic Gaskin and Dr Rupert Roopnarine – were subsequently given senior posts in the ministries they controlled.