IPNEWS: As though the resounding “NO” outcome of the 2020 Constitutional referendum on dual citizenship is not enough, the government of President George Manneh Weah, is now smiling after the high court in Liberia nullified a section of the Alien and Nationality Law.  

The government of Liberia in a  press statement issued this week Wednesday, October 13, Information Minister Ledgerhood Rennie announced that a decision of the Supreme Court of Liberia had nullified a section of the Alien and Nationality Law that automatically takes away the citizenship of any Liberian who acquires another nationality despite not being party to the case.

The decision according to the government is a fulfillment of the “long-held desire of the President to ensure Liberians of all persuasions, who left the country due to the civil war, are not deprived of their rights and privileges in the land they regard as home,” Minister Rennie said. “This is Victory for all Liberians.”

The announcement follows a September 22, 2021 communication from Minister of Justice, Frank Musah Dean, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dee-Maxwell Kemayah, informing him of the Supreme Court’s decision. The Justice Minister’s communication also mandated the Foreign Minister to adjust its operations to accommodate all Liberian-born individuals who request Liberian passports.

Sources tell IPNEWS that the Justice Minister Musah Dean’s notice to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dee-Maxwell Kemayah came on the kneels of reports that some Liberians with dual citizenship were being denied Liberian passports.

Legal luminaries informed IPNEWS minutes after the issuant of the public notice by the Ministry of Information that the Supreme Court ruling ‘does not confer a right to dual citizenship, rather it instructs the government to comply with the principle of due process of law before depriving any Liberian of his/her citizenship’.

“This ruling also suggests that Liberians in the diaspora will now have to prove that they or their parents are natural born Liberians.”

“The issue of dual citizenship for Liberians has yet to be settled.” A legal expert told IPNEWS.

Amidst all those discussions, there still remain sensitive questions such as: ‘will Liberians with dual citizenship be eligible to hold elective office or occupy sensitive government positions? Will the Government of Liberia be allowed to track who has dual citizenship and who does not?’

Sources have informed the Independent Probe that this highly publicized noticed of notification by the Supreme Court has existed since December 23, 2019, nearly twelve months before the failed referendum.

Article 20(a) of the Constitution grants that: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, security of the person, property, privilege or any other right except as the outcome of a hearing judgment consistent with the provisions laid down in this Constitution and in accordance with due process of law.”

“Wherefore and in view of the foregoing, the petition is hereby granted. Section 22.2 of the Aliens and Nationality Law, to the extent that it provides for loss of citizenship solely on account of the performance by a citizenship of acts or fulfillment of the conditions specified in Section 22.1 without the institution by the Government of any proceedings to nullify or cancel citizenship in violation of the due process clause under Article 209(a) of the 1986 Constitution, is hereby null and void without any force and effect of law,” the Judges ruled.

Political pundits are questioning why has the government not acted on the Supreme Court’s ruling until after the sounding NO outcome in the 2020 referendum, that included a proposal on dual citizenship.

It may be recalled, the dual citizenship portion of the referendum was massively defeat NO vote.

The Minister of Justice letter now sets the stage for Liberian by birth who obtains naturalization in a foreign country will only forfeit his/her Liberian citizenship based on “due process” of law, where the person formally renounces their Liberian citizenship.

Furthermore, the communication states that in the absence of a formal renouncement (in court of law), a Liberian citizen who has naturalized in another country reserves the right of entitlement to a Liberian passport.

“You are to ensure that the implementers of the revised regulations governing the administration and issuance of Liberian passports “take due note.”