[1980]DLSC1605 • June 26, 1980 • Supreme Court •
MEKKAOUI vs. MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
The plaintiff, a Lebanese-born individual naturalised as a Ghanaian citizen in 1976 under the Ghana Nationality Act, 1971 (Act 361), was deprived of his citizenship by naturalisation by the Ghana Nationality Amendment Decree, 1979 (A.F.R.C.D. 42). The Decree purported to revoke citizenship of certain persons, including the plaintiff, without a judicial order. The plaintiff was arrested and detained, then released following a writ of habeas corpus. Subsequently, he was ordered to leave Ghana based on the Decree. He challenged the validity of the Decree and sought a declaration affirming his citizenship status.
read moreJUDGMENT OF CHARLES CRABBE J.S.C. (The judgment of his lordship was read by Archer J.S.C.). The plaintiff was a Lebanese by birth. He was born on 29 October 1930, at Tripoli, in the Lebanon. He has been resident in Ghana for the past 24 years. He came to the Gold Coast in 1956. In June 1976, he lawfully acquired citizenship of Ghana by naturalisation. The naturalisation was acquired under the terms of the Ghana Nationality Act, 1971 (Act 361). This was after the plaintiff had necessarily renounced his Lebanese nationality by birth. He claims that he thus acquired the protection and rights conferred by the Act, as well as by treaties governing the status of citizens and naturalised persons to which the Government of Ghana is a party. On or about 3 January 1980, a public announcement, purporting to emanate from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was read on Radio Ghana. Certain persons, including the plaintiff, were requested to report by 14 January 1980, to the Chief Immigration Offi...